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Witnesses from the Dust ; 



OR, 



THE BIBLE 



ILLUSTRATED FROM THE MONUMENTS. 



BY 



REV. J. N. FRADENBURGH, A. M., Ph. D., 

Member of the American Oriental Society, the Society of Btblical 
Archaeology of London, etc. 




CINCINNATI : 

CRANSTON <& STOWE, 

NEW YORK: PHILLIPS & HUNT. 
1886. 



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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by 

J. N. FRADENBURGH, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



A'lirjisfers ©| frje (§r<z>spel, JcyiJale. ©fuaerjfs, ^reetcrjers, 
Gtrja. cell Hover's of H^rufr), 

Y^is \/olunc)e 
is etfTeofi0r)<afely irjscriiaed.. 



PREFACE. 



The results of recent explorations in Bible 
lands have belonged hitherto, not indeed exclu- 
sively, but largely to scholars who have made 
them the subject of special study. Discoveries 
have poured in upon Oriental students so rap- 
idly, and they have been so startled, amazed, 
delighted, and charmed in their investigations, 
that they have found little time to popularize the 
material which has been so unexpectedly placed 
in their hands. We may at least gather to- 
gether the results of these explorations, and take 
an inventory of our possessions. Just now, 
when the spirit of skepticism would reduce im- 
portant parts of the Old Testament to myth and 
fable, it is most opportune that the spade — the 
magic wand of the explorer — has uncovered the 
cities, monuments, and records of Assyria, Baby- 
lonia, Egypt, and other Bible lands, and that 
lips which had been mute for thousands of years 



6 PREFACE. 

have been unsealed, and have given their testi- 
mony upon vital questions. 

We present important installments of this 
testimony which bear upon the story of the 
Bible. They are surely unprejudiced witnesses 
who speak to us from the dust. They throw 
unexpected light upon the sacred records and 
confirm many important passages. The evi- 
dence is such as to increase our confidence in 
the minute accuracy of Scripture writers. 

The main drift of this testimony will not be 
changed by the improvements which may be 
made in the translations Avhich we have fol- 
lowed and the additional material which is 
sure to come. The student of history, and 
especially the student of the Bible and of relig- 
ion, will welcome these revelations and speci- 
mens of archaic literature. The Christian will 
be able to estimate the proper value to be set 
upon many of the statements of "advanced" 
criticism. The references to the most accessible 
sources will enable the reader to prosecute 
further inquiries. 

December, 1885. 



CONTENTS 



I. PAGE. 

A Resurrection from the Dead, . . .13 

II. 

" God Created the Heaven and the Earth/' 27 

III. 
Sacred Trees, 45 

IV. 

The God-appointed Guard, . . . .53 

V. 
The Holy Day, 63 

VI. 

Great Waters, 69 

VII. 

Works of Folly and Deeds of Shame, . 91 

VIII. 

Rebel Angels, 101 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

IX. PAGE. 

" Even as Nimrod, the Mighty Hunter," 105 

X. 

Ur and Haran, 117 

XI. 

Two Giant Warriors — Chedorlaomer and 

Abraham, 133 

XII. 

Abraham and Joseph in Egypt, . . . 145 

XIII. 

"To Sleep, Perchance to Dream," . .159 

XIV. 
Famines in Egypt, 171 

XV. 

" Work, Work, Work," 179 

XVI. 

Choice Fragments, 205 

XVII. 

Black Arts in Assyria and Egypt, . .219 

XVIII. 

"Eat, Drink, and Be Merry," ... 241 



CONTENTS. y 

XIX. PAGE- 

Holy Songs and Earnest Prayers, . . 249 

XX. 

'• Weighed in the Balance," . . . 265 

XXI. 
The Exodus, 281 

XXII. 

The Moabite Stone — The Siloam Inscrip- 
tion, 289 

XXIII. 

Famines and Pestilences, .... 303 

XXIV. 

Rare Old Documents, . . . . . 311 

XXV. 

Three Egyptian Kings, 327 

XXVI. 
Shalmaneser II, 337 

XXVII. 
Tiglath-Pileser II, 349 

XXVIII. 

Sargon — Ashdod^ 355 



10 CONTENTS. 

XXIX. PAGE. 

Sennacherib the Mighty, . . . . 363 

XXX. 

EsARHADDON, 379 

XXXI. 

The Bloody City, . . . . . .391 

XXXII. 

"Is not this Great Babylon that I have 

Built?" . . . . . .399 

XXXIII. 

The Golden Image, . . . . . 421 

XXXIV. 

"Weeping for Tammuz," . . . . 427 

XXXV. 

"The House of Bjmmon," .... 433 

XXXVI. 

Small Scraps, 441 

XXXVII. 

The Strange Gods of Samaria, . . . 447 

XXXVIII. 
Paul Quotes a Heathen Poet, . . 463 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Arrow-head Tablets and Inscriptions, 22 

The Tree of Life, : 49 

Front of Assyrian Palace, 56 

Winged Human-headed Bull, 56 

Winged Human-headed Lion, 59 

Babel, 97 

Tower at Babylon, 99 

King Shooting a Lion on the Spring, Ill 

King Pouring Libation Over Forms of Dead Lions, . . .114 
Nimrod, 115 

MUGHEIR, OR Ur OF THE CHALDEES, 119 

Pyramid and Sphinx, 167 

Egyptian Granary, 174 

On the Nile, 182 

Brick-making in Egypt, 183 

An Egyptian Brick-field, 183 

Inundation of the Nile at Thebes, 184 

Bust of Thothmes III, 185 

Colossal Figure of Rameses II, 185 

Colossal Statue of Rameses at Memphis, 186 

The Nile — Temple of Ipsamboul, 187 

Head of Mineptah, 203 

Egyptian War-chariot, 208 

U 



12 ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Scribes Writing the Account of the Steward, 209 

Treading the Wine-press, 211 

A Pharaoh in his Chariot, 212 

" With Timbrels and with Dances," 216 

Amen, 258 

Outer Gallery of Temple, 268 

Egyptian Mummy Cases, • 269 

Embalmed Body in Coffin, 270 

Chamber of Tomb, 271 

Isis and Nephthys, . .* 272 

Judgment Scene, 274 

Sarcophagus of Esmunazar, 319 

Head of Sheshonk I (Shishak), 330 

Head of Tirhakah, 335 

Assyrian King, 340 

Syrian Captives Enslaved, 342 

The Black Obelisk, 343 

Israelites Bringing Tribute to the King, 346 

Final Assault of Damascus, 353 

Sennacherib on his Throne, 375 

Defense of Lachish, 376 

Nisroch, 381 

Nebo, ..." 383 

Face of Baal at Baalbec, 387 

Assur-Nasir-Pal, 393 

Captives Led With Hooks in their Lips, . 394 

Impalement, 396 

Trampling on the Conquered Foe, 397 

Babylon, 402 

Court of Assyrian Palace, 41 3 

Nebuchadnezzar in his War-chariot, 418 



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13 



I. 



THE present age is pre-eminently an age 
of intellectual activity. Discoveries have 
marked its progress. The world has again and 
again been surprised, startled, gladdened, ex- 
alted by its marvelous discoveries. Nature has 
revealed many wonderful secrets. Men have 
read the records of the stars. Mighty forces 
have become obedient to the human will. 

There has been no more important revelation 
during this age of progress than that of the 
treasures of antiquity. Old cities have risen 
from their graves, and ancient literatures have 
renewed their pristine eloquence. Dead lan- 
guages have come to life. Sacred volumes of 
forgotten lore teach their lessons anew. Hiero- 
glyphics have been deciphered. Strange alpha- 
bets have found a voice. Old Troy with her 
heroes, Babylon and Nineveh with their palaces, 
Jerusalem with her holy associations, ancient 
Tyre, venerable Thebes, and Memphis and Tanis, 
the mysterious Sphinx, the giant Pyramid, the 

obelisk, the temple, and the tomb — these live. 

15 



16 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The voice that comes from lands connected with 
Old Testament history is especially commanding. 

Egypt, the land of the pyramid and the 
sphinx, the temple and the tomb, the obelisk and 
the labyrinth, the hieroglyphic and the papyrus, 
venerable with hoary centuries, mysterious, ar- 
chaic, and religious ; and the lands of Mesopota- 
mia, where once flourished the kingdoms of Chal- 
dea, Assyria, and Babylonia, with their mighty 
cities and sacred streams — the land of Abraham, 
" the friend of God," the land of canals and luxu- 
riant verdure, where the palm, stately and beauti- 
ful, waves its graceful branches and bows its rev- 
erent head, the land of wealth and luxury, war 
and conquest, the home of the Babel Tower and 
of Nimrod, the mighty hunter, by whose streams 
the Jewish exiles hung their harps on the wil- 
lows and thought of far-away Zion — these ancient 
kingdoms are shaking off the dust of millen- 
niums and standing forth before the astonished 
gaze of this modern world. Their cities and 
palaces are rising from graves of long-forgotten 
centuries, and enrobing themselves in their na- 
tive beauty. Their tombs are opened, and the 
dead speak. 

We may talk to-day with their great kings, 
we may hear their priests chant their hymns 
and make their prayers. We may accompany 



A RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. 17 

the warrior in his victorious campaigns and the 
plowman in his humble toil. We may enter the 
bank and listen to monetary discussions, and the 
palace and behold scenes of splendor. We may 
read the romances with which great authors 
charmed the people, and books of travel which 
record daring adventures of brave spirits in 
strange lands. We may go to the home of the 
sick, and greet the physician in his daily rounds ; 
we may stand as a witness for the householder 
as he purchases a slave. We may note the rage 
of the monarch as he executes vengeance upon 
his enemies ; we may sit by his side as he 
records his last will and testament. We may 
watch the erection of temples and palaces, con- 
verse with counselors and divines, share in the 
excitement of the royal hunting expedition, and 
enter the royal libraries. If we question the 
winged, human-headed bulls and lions which 
guard the gateways to palaces and temples, they 
answer us; if we speak to their mightiest mon- 
archs, they reply. We may stand by the side 
of the Egyptian form embalmed and buried thou- 
sands of years ago, and he relates to us the his- 
tory of his life. Every brick of Babylon hath 
found a tongue ; every coffin of Egypt hath 
a voice ; every hill of Palestine proclaims the 

truth. It is a true resurrection from the dead. 

2 



18 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The discovery of the Rosetta stone, now de- 
posited in the British Museum — a stone erected 
in honor of Ptolemy Epiphanes one hundred and 
ninety-three years before Christ, and containing 
a most precious inscription in three languages, 
one of which is happily Greek — this furnished 
a key to the decipherment of the Egyptian hiero- 
glyphic writing. Champollion, a man whose 
genius was only excelled by his enthusiasm 
and devotion to science, applied this key with 
pronounced success to the solution of the dark 
problem. Till the middle of the present century 
there were, besides himself, Lepsius, Seyffarth, 
Mr. Birch, Belzoni, Dr. Hincks, M. Emmanuel 
de Rouge, of France, and Brugsch, of Ger- 
many — the most prominent names who applied 
themselves with marked success to this depart- 
ment of Egyptian studies. We can not give a 
history of hieroglyphic and cuneiform decipher- 
ment, however interesting a study it would afford. 
We must not, however, neglect to honor some 
great names who took up and carried on the 
work so auspiciously begun by these early inves- 
tigators. There soon followed, M. Mariette, M. 
Chabas, and Mr. Goodwin ; and now many more — 
Diimichen, Lauth, Ebers, Stern, Eisenlohr, Wied- 
eman, Bergman, and Reinisch, of Germany; 
Pleyte, of Holland; Lieblein, of Sweden; Gole- 



A RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. 19 

nischeff, of Russia ; Deveria, J. de Rouge, Hor- 
rack, Maspero, Lefebure, Pierret, Grebaut, Ro- 
biou, Baillet, Rochemonteix, and P. Le Page 
Renouf, of France ; Naville, of Geneva ; Rossi, 
Szedlo and Schiaparelli, of Italy ; and Canon 
Cook and Professor Lushington, of England. 
All honor to the men who, inspired only by the 
love of truth, have delved in these ancient mines 
of forgotten lore. They have breathed upon the 
dry bones of Egypt, and an army has stood up be- 
fore their vision. The methods adopted have 
commended themselves to the good judgment of 
thoughtful scholars and earned their confidence, 
and have at last compelled the respect and 
approval even of the most skeptical. 

Many magnificent volumes of texts have 
been published. The originals, written on tombs, 
temple walls, obelisks, coffins, mummy wrap- 
pings, and papyrus rolls, are fast perishing from 
the robberies and destruction of Arab, European, 
and American vandalism. But a few fragments 
of the texts in existence have been published. 
The mass of unpublished material is truly amaz- 
ing, and much will probably never see the light. 

" Mariette-Bey has published four folio vol- 
umes of plates from the temple of Denderah 
alone, but he gives them only as a selection. 
To copy the whole would, he says, be the work 



20 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

of years. Dr. Dumichen has published another 
folio volume of texts of special interest, selected 
from the same temple, without interfering with 
those published by M. Marietta. Every square 
foot of the walls is, in fact, covered with pic- 
ture or text. I had the pleasure of passing 
some time, two or three years ago," says M. Re- 
nouf, from whom we are quoting, "at Qurna, on 
the left bank of the Nile, near Thebes, with a 
great scholar, who had spent much time in copy- 
ing the inscriptions of a single tomb ; but, though 
he worked indefatigably and rapidly, he was 
compelled to come away leaving a great part of 
his intended work unaccomplished." 

The marvels of records so vast quite con- 
found the intelligence. Immense masses of ma- 
terials have been entirely destroyed. Inscrip- 
tions and manuscripts innumerable, with priceless 
treasures of thought, are no more. We possess 
only the bare wreck of Egyptian literature. 
"Yet, if we only look to quantity, the stock 
of original and trustworthy materials actually in 
existence, illustrative of the religion of ancient 
Egypt, is more extensive than the corresponding 
materials extant for the religions of Palestine, 
Greece, or Rome." (Renouf, The Religion of 
Ancient Egypt, pp. 24, et seq.) Most of the 
Egyptian documents are of a religious character, 



A RESURRECTION EROM THE DEAD. 21 

though the subjects are of a wider range. There 
are histories, works of travel, romance, poetry, 
prayers, magic texts, proverbs, religious discus- 
sions, and so on — and yet a religious tone per- 
vades all, even the subjects apparently most secu- 
lar. Some of the works — as the Book of the 
Dead — are of considerable magnitude. 

The recovery of the cuneiform writings of 
Chaldea and Assyria, their decipherment and 
interpretation, and the life thus given to Elam, 
Shinar, Ur, Nineveh, Babylon, and other countries 
and cities, are equally wonderful triumphs of 
nineteenth century scholarship. In connection 
with this subject we must not forget to record 
the names of La yard, Rawlinson, Norris, Hincks, 
Smith, Sayce, Talbot, Menant, Oppert, Pinches, 
Houghton, Guyard, Boscawen, Lenormant, Schra- 
der, Delitzsch, Haupt, Lyon, and Hommel. Hor- 
muzd Rassam, the monarch of the spade, is 
adding new discoveries year by year. This 
archaic literature is preserved on cylinders, obe- 
lisks, mythologic objects, and clay tablets. The 
tablets are of all sizes, " from an inch long to over 
a foot square." The characters were stamped 
on these tablets with a stylus while they were 
yet soft. The tablets were then baked, and 
sometimes covered with a clay coating and again 
baked. In the latter case the writing was most 



22 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



perfectly preserved, for, upon the removal of the 
coating, a double impression of the text is 
revealed. 

The library of Assurbanipal at Nineveh has 
yielded many thousands of volumes or tablets. 




'.rfi^ilf 1 . 



rtl&b 







ARROW-HEAD TABLETS AND INSCRIPTIONS. 



George Smith, whose death was all too soon for 
the cause of science, has been called the modern 
curator of this old library as it is now preserved 
in the British Museum. 

" Historical and mythological documents, re- 
ligious records, legal, geographical, astronomical, 
and astrological treatises ; poetical compositions, 
grammatical and lexical disquisitions ; lists of 



A RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD. 23 

stones and trees, of birds and beasts ; copies of 
treaties, of commercial transactions, of corre- 
spondence, of petitions to the king, and of royal 
proclamations — such were the chief contents of 
this strange old library." (Sayce, Babylonian 
Literature, p. 16.) The wand of modern schol- 
arship has been waved over these lost and 
buried empires, and Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, 
Sargon, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Assurbanipal, 
and great Nebuchadnezzar have stood forth and 
related, in archaic language, their wonderful 
stories ; Nimrod " the mighty hunter " has again 
pursued the lion and the wild bull, Abraham has 
worshiped in "Ur of the Chaldees," and the life 
of thousands of years ago has been lived over 
again in these modern times. 

The interest which we possess in these mon- 
umental revelations is enhanced from the con- 
nection of Egypt and Assyria with Israel, the 
chosen people of God. Abraham, in whose -seed 
all the nations of the earth are blessed, received 
his early education in Chaldea. He dwelt for 
some time in Haran. He descended into Egypt. 
He fought against Chedorlaomer and his allies 
of Mesopotamia and the East. Joseph went 
down into Egypt, and was honored with the 
highest office in the gift of the Pharaoh. He 
married the daughter of the priest of Heliop- 



24 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

olis. His father's family removed to Egypt 
with all his possessions, and there the Hebrews 
suffered oppression until Moses led them forth 
to the land of promise. From the east the great 
and mighty monarchs of Assyria and Babylonia 
invaded and conquered Israel, and carried the 
people of Israel and Judah captive to Babylon 
and other Eastern cities, where for generations 
they were forced to submit to the rule of a 
people whose religion was an abomination to the 
faith of their fathers. Thus Israel, between 
these two powers, was conquered, oppressed, 
enslaved, buffeted, and harried ; her people were 
dispersed among the nations, her holy city taken, 
her sacred temple defiled, and her treasury 
robbed. 

There is more than historic justice in the 
fact that these nations which exhausted them- 
selves in destroying Israel, transporting her in- 
habitants, and dethroning her God, after three 
thousand years of cilence have risen from their 
graves to proclaim the truthfulness and divinity 
of Israel's sacred books. 

Oriental records have added many chapters 
to history, and necessitated the re-writing of 
many more. The history of Assyria and Egypt 
has been written only within the last few 
years. Important papers on their connection 



A RESVRRECTION FROM THE DEAD. 25 

with old Testament history — genuine contribu- 
tions to knowledge — have appeared in the trans- 
actions of learned societies, and in various re- 
views and other periodicals of high character. 
The labor of decipherment and translation con- 
tinues. Texts, grammars, and dictionaries have 
been published. Classes have been formed 
for the study of the Egyptian and Assyrian 
languages, and many enthusiastic laborers are 
active in this new and promising field. Ameri- 
ican students may enjoy the advantage of in- 
struction in these studies by competent profes- 
sors in their own institutions of learning. 
Many volumes of translations have appeared, 
and these old documents may be read in mod- 
ern dress. 

We glean, then, from a wide field, and pre- 
sent some handfuls of grain. We have confined 
ourselves closely to the written records, only in 
a few cases admitting quotations from native 
writers when these are of unquestioned an- 
tiquity and authority. We have also considered 
it most profitable to present the very words of 
the records. In one or two instances we have 
slightly changed the order of the words in the 
translations, to make the language, if possible, 
more endurable English. 

It can not be supposed that the translators 
3 



26 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

have, in all cases, hit upon the exact rendering 
or even the correct meaning of the text, yet we 
may rely upon their general results and be as- 
sured that we shall not hereafter be called upon 
to reverse the main conclusions to which we will 
be led by their studies. 



II. 



"lair mnitb i\t l^tmm nttb i\t Jinvfy 



tt 



II. 



SANCHONIATHON was a Phoenician author 
who seems to have written extensively on. 
early Phoenician history and traditions. Suidas 
calls him a " Tyrian philosopher ;" and he is men- 
tioned by Athenaeus, Porphyry, Theodoret, and 
Eusebius. Most of his works are lost, but some 
few fragments have been preserved by Eusebius 
and Porphyry. Philo, of Byblus, translated 
from Sanchoniathon into Greek, and Eusebius 
quotes from Philo. Grotius, Ewald, Baron Bun- 
sen, and others, who have given special atten- 
tion to the subject, consider these fragments 
genuine remnants of Phoenician literature, and 
of the very highest importance. Eusebius, of 
Caesarea, a native of Palestine, was born in A. D. 
264. From his extracts we make the following 
quotations : 

" He supposes that the beginning of all 
things was a dark and condensed windy air, or 
a breeze of dark air, and a chaos turbid and 
black as Erebus ; and that these were un- 
bounded, and for a long series of ages desti- 

29 



30 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

tute of form [or limit]. But when this wind 
became enamored of its own first principles (the 
Chaos), and an intimate union took place, that 
connection was called Pothos ; and it was the 
beginning of the creation of all things. And it 
(the Chaos) knew not its own production ; but, 
from its embrace with the wind, was generated 
■Mot, which some called Ilus (mud), but others 
the putrefaction of a watery mixture. And from 
this sprung all the seed of the creation and the 
generation of the universe. And there were 
certain animals not having sensation, from which 
intelligent animals were produced ; and they 
were called Zophasemim, c observers of heaven,' 
and they were formed similar to the shape of 
an egg. And Mot shone out with the sun and 
the moon and the less and the greater stars. . . . 
Of the wind, Kolpia and his wife, Baau, which 
is interpreted Night, were begotten two mortal 
men, iEon and Protogonus, so called ; and JEion 
discovered food from trees. Those begotten 
from these were called Genos and Genea, and 
inhabited Phoenicia." (Cory, Ancient Frag- 
ments, pp. 1-4.) 

Berosus was a Babylonian priest, who wrote 
about B. C. 330 to 260. He was held in great 
repute by ancient writers. Josephus, Plutarch, 
Eusebius, George the Syncellus, Athenaeus, 



GOD THE CREATOR. 31 

Pliny, Seneca, Pausanius, Jerome, and many 
other ancient authors, mention Berosus, or give 
quotations from his works. If there has been 
any doubt heretofore as to his perfect good faith, 
that doubt is now thoroughly dispelled by the 
discovery of the monumental records. Berosus 
may have had access to the public documents 
of Babylonia. As reported by Alexander Poly- 
histor, he says : 

" In the first year there made its appearance, 
from a part of the Erythraean Sea, which bor- 
dered upon Babylonia, an animal endowed with 
reason, who was called Oannes. (According to 
the account of Apollodorus) the whole body of 
the animal was like that of a fish ; and had 
under a fish's head another head, and also feet 
below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to 
the fish's tail. His voice, too, and language was 
articulate and human ; and a representation of 
him is preserved even to this day." 

This strange animal taught the people letters, 
arts, and sciences. Under his wise instruction 
they founded temples, compiled laws, and gained 
various kinds of useful knowledge. Oannes gave 
the following account of creation : 

" There was a time in which there was noth- 
ing but darkness and an abyss of waters, wherein 
resided most hideous beings, which were pro- 



32 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

duced of a twofold principle. . . . The person 
who was supposed to have presided over them 
was a woman named Omoroca; which in the 
Chaldee language is Thalatth ; which in Greek 
is interpreted Thalassa, the sea ; but, according 
to the most true computation, it is equivalent to 
Selene, the moon. All things being in this sit- 
uation, Belus came and cut the woman asunder, 
and out of one half of her he formed the earth, 
and of the other half the heavens ; and at 
the same time he destroyed the animals in the 
abyss. All this (he says) was an allegorical de- 
scription of nature. For the whole universe 
consisted of moisture, and the animals being 
continually generated therein, the deity (Belus) 
above mentioned cut off his own head ; upon 
which the other gods mixed the blood, as it 
gushed out, with the earth, and from thence 
men were formed. On this it is that men are 
rational and partake of divine knowledge. This 
Belus, whom men call Dis (or Pluto), divided 
the darkness, and separated the heavens from 
the earth, and reduced the universe to order ; 
but the animals so recently created, not being 
able to bear the prevalence of light, died. 
Belus, upon this, seeing a vast space quite un- 
inhabited, though by nature very fruitful, or- 
dered one of the gods to take off his head ; and 



GOD THE CREATOR. 33 

when it was taken off they were to mix the 
blood with the soil of the earth, and from thence 
to form other men and animals which should be 
capable of bearing the light. Belus also formed 
the stars and the sun and the moon, together 
with the five planets." (Cory, Ancient Frag- 
ments, pp. 57-60.) 

Abydenus, quoting from Berosus, says : 
" There was nothing but water in the beginning, 
and that was called the sea [Tiamat) ; Belos 
(Bel-Marduk) put an end to this state of things 
by assigning to every thing its place in the 
world." (Lenormant, Beginnings of History, 
p. 499.) 

A still more important extract is preserved 
by Damascius. His account runs as follows : 
" But the Babylonians, like the rest of the bar- 
barians, pass over in silence the one principle of 
the universe, and they constitute two, Tauthe 
and Apason, making Apason the husband of 
Tauthe, and denominating her the ' mother of 
the gods.' And from these proceeds an only- 
begotten son, Moymis, which, I conceive, is no 
other than the intelligible world proceeding from 
the two principles. From them, also, another 
progeny is derived, Dache and Dachus ; and 
again a third, Kissare and Assorus ; from which 
last three others proceed, Anus and Illinus and 



34 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Aus. And of Aus and Davke is born a son 
called Belus, who, they say, is the fabricator of 
the world— the Demiurgus." (Cory, Ancient 
Fragments, p. 92.) 

These traditions, while standing by them- 
selves, are most difficult of interpretation. But 
a new group of traditions, of which the world 
fifty years ago had not dreamed, has been dis- 
covered. The two groups must be read together. 

The creation tablets date in their present 
form from the time of Assurbanipal, though 
doubtless depending upon documents or legends 
much earlier. These tablets, seven in number, 
in their fragmentary condition, have been trans- 
lated several times and by different hands. We 
give Lenormant's translation of the first tablet : 

"When above the heavens were not yet named, 
and, below, the earth was without a name, 
the limitless abyss (apsu) was their generator, 
and the chaotic sea (Mummu-Tiamat) , she who pro- 
duced the whole. 
Their waters flowed together in one ; 
no flock of animals was as yet collected, no plant had 

sprung up. 
When none of the gods had as yet been produced, 
when they were not designated by a name, when no 

fate was as yet [fixed, 
the great gods were then formed. 
Luchmu and Lachamu were produced [first, 
and they grew in [solitude. 



GOD THE CREATOR. 35 

Asshur and Kisshar were produced [next 
Then] rolled on a long course of days [and 
Ami, [Bel and Ea 
were born] of Asshur and of [Kishar." 

(Lenormant, Beginnings of History p. 491.) 

With this account, read in the poem of the 
creation of Genesis the record of the work of 
the first day : 

" In the beginning, when God created the heaven and the 

earth, 
The earth being waste and empty, and darkness upon the 

face of the deep, 
And the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the 

waters, 
God said, Let light come forth, and light came forth. 

And God saw the light that it was excellent, 
And God divided between the light and the darkness ; 
And God called the light day, and the darkness he called 
night. 

And evening came, and morning came — one day." 
(Briggs, The Old Testament Student, Vol. Ill, p. 277.) 

We may now compare the three accounts — 
the historical, the monumental, and the Biblical. 

In the Mummu-Tiamatu, " the chaos of wat- 
ers " of the creation tablet, we discover the 
Moymis and Tauthe of Damascius, and in its 
second element the Thalatth or Thavatth of Be- 
rosus. The Assyrian and Babylonian artists 
represent Tiamatu as " a monster in whom all 



36 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the disorder of the primitive creation was rep- 
resented." This monster had " the body, the 
head, and the forepaws of a lion, the wings, the 
tail, and the hind-claws of an eagle, while the 
neck and upper part of the body are covered 
with feathers or scales." The same word is the 
Hebrew tehom, " the deep," of Genesis i, 2. This 
" deep " is tohu, " waste," " without form." 

Both Genesis and the monuments make a 
watery chaos precede the formation of the world, 
and with this account both Damascius and Be- 
rosus agree. Lachmu and Lachamu, male and 
female personifications of motion and production, 
are Dache and Dachus, the ruach, " spirit," of 
Genesis. Asshur and Kishar are the Assorus 
and Kissare of Damascius. Anu, Bel, and Ea 
form the Babylonian triad of gods, and are the 
Anus, Illinos, and Aus of Damascius. They 
symbolize heaven, earth, and sea. Apason must 
be apsu, " the deep." 

The Phoenician cosmogony gives us, as its 
basis, a triad, — Baau, "chaos;" Pothos, "spirit" 
or " desire ;" and Mdt, " slime," also termed Ula- 
mos, " time," and again-the primordial " egg^ out 
of which came heaven and earth. Here again 
we have the Babylonian triad of gods rep- 
resented. 

The wife of Hea is Davkina or Dauka, which 



GOD THE CREATOR. 37 

has been identified with the Bohu, " void," 
" empty," of Genesis i, 2, and the Phoenician 
Baau. 

" Baau is said to have been the wife of the 
wind, Kolpia, and we thus get a striking resem- 
blance to the Chaldsean Triad of the Demiurge, 
the sky'and the earth, whose spirit broods over 
the abyss, and is wedded to Baau. Even the 
language of the Biblical account, in which Elohim 
6 carves ' the heaven and the earth out of a pri- 
meval chaos, his spirit brooding over the deep 
and wasteness of the earth, shows a similar col- 
oring." (Sayce, Letter to The Academy, March 
20, 1875 : Quoted by Lenormant, Chaldsean 
Magic, pp. 123, 124.) The cosmogony of Phe- 
recydes is Phoenician, though under the guise 
of Greek names, and agrees in its main features 
with Sanchoniathon. (Lenormant, Beginnings 
of History, pp. 537 et seq.) 

The second tablet of the creation has not 
been discovered, and but small and imperfect 
fragments of the third and fourth. The follow- 
ing is a translation of the fifth tablet : 

" Excellently he made the mansions [twelve] in number 

for the great gods. 
He assigned to them stars, and he established fixedly 

the stars of the Great Bear. 
He fixed the time of the year, and determined its 

limits. 



38 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

For each of the twelve months he fixed three stars, 
from the day when the year begins until its end. 
He determined the mansions of the planets, to define 

their orbits by a fixed time, 
so that none of them may fall short, and none be 

turned aside. 
He fixed the abodes of Bel and £a near his own. 
He opened also perfectly the great gates (of heaven), 
making their bolts solid to right and to left ; 
and in his majesty he made himself steps there. 
He made Nannar (the moon) to shine ; he joined it to 

the night, 
and he fixed for it the seasons of its nocturnal phases, 

which determine the days. 
For the entire month without interruption he settled 

what should be the form of its disk. 
In the beginning of the month, when evening begins, 
thy horns will serve for a sign to determine the times 

of the heavens. 
The seventh day thou wilt be in the act of filling out 

thy disk, 
but the .... will [partly] expose its dark side." 

The remainder of the tablet continues the 
description of the phases of the moon. (Lenor- 
mant, Beginnings of History, pp. 493-497.) 

For comparison we present the correspond- 
ing account from the Hebrew poem of the Cre- 
ation : 

"And God said, Let luminaries appear in the expanse of 
the heaven, 
To divide between the day and between the night, 
And be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 



GOD THE CREATOR. 39 

And be for luminaries in the expanse of heaven to shine 

upon the earth. 
And it became so, and God saw that it was excellent. 

And God made the two great luminaries ; 

The greater light for dominion over the day, 

The lesser light for dominion over the night ; 

And God put them in the expanse of heaven to shine 

upon the earth, 
And to rule over the day and over the night, and to 

divide between the light and the darkness. 

And evening came, and morning came — a fourth day." 
(Briggs, The Old Testament Student, Vol. Ill, p. 283.) 

There is a short fragment of the seventh 
tablet : 

" When the gods all together had formed .... 
they made excellently the .... awakened. 
They produced the living beings [on the earth, 
the cattle of the fields, the wild animals of the fields, 
and the creeping things [of the fields." 

(Lenormant, Beginnings of History, p. 498.) 

This corresponds to the creation of the " beast 
of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their 
kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the 
earth after his kind " of the sixth day of Gen- 
esis i, 25. 

The fragments of the third and fourth tab- 
lets are so imperfect that we are unable to 
present a translation ; yet enough has been re- 
covered to show a close resemblance with the 



40 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

work of the second and third creation days. 
Not only in substance, but also in the very 
order of creation, the tablets show remarkable 
agreement with the Bible, while the records of 
native historians confirm the history of Moses, 
where they can be made to speak upon the same 
subject as that discussed by the great Hebrew 
lawgiver. 

There is a Babylonian cosmogonic legend still 
older than those which we have given. The 
tablet came from old Cutha. Like Berosus, this 
tablet makes the first creation that of monsters 
and giants — " men with the bodies of birds of 
the desert, human beings with the faces of 
ravens ;" " the terrible brood of Tihamat, the 
principle of chaos and night. Among them were 
seven kings, all brothers, the sons of King Ba- 
nini and Queen Milili, who ruled over a Titanic 
people, six thousand in number. The eldest of 
the brothers was called ' The Thunderbolt,' which 
gives us a clew to the atmospheric origin of the 
myth." These giants, after a mighty struggle, 
are defeated and destroyed by the gods. (Sayce, 
Babylonian Literature, p. 33.) 

This struggle of Bel, in his slaughter of Ti- 
amat, representing the creation of order out of 
chaos, is elaborated and developed under an epic 
form in the tablets : 



GOD THE CREATOR. 41 

" He took the instrument in his right-hand, 
[and] he suspended [the bow] and the quiver. 
He shot a flash of lightning before him, and an 
impetuous [fury] filled his body. He made also 
the cimeter which was to penetrate the body of 
Tiamat. He held back the four winds, so that 
her attacks could not be produced without the 
south wind, the north wind, the east wind, and 
the west wind. His hand placed the cimeter 
beside the bow of his father Anu. He created 
the bad wind, the hostile wind, the water-spout, 
the hurricane, four winds, seven winds, the de- 
vastating wind, the ceaseless wind ; and he loos- 
ened the winds that he had created, seven in 
number, to carry ruin to the body of Tiamat by 
rushing after her. He raised up also, as master, 
the tempest, his great weapon. He mounted a 
solid chariot, without a rival, which leveled ev- 
ery thing before it. He stood erect in it, and 
his hands held the four pairs of reins." 

The battle rages, and Bel challenges Tiamat 
to single combat. "They flung themselves im- 
petuously, the one on the other, in combat, and 
they met in r battle. The lord drew forth his 
cimeter and struck her. He let loose before 
him the evil wind, which attacks from behind ; 
and Tiamat opened her mouth to swallow 

him, but he had caused to enter into her the 

4 



42 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

evil wind in such wise that she could not shut 
her mouth. The violence of the wind fills her 
stomach ; her heart sinks, and her face is dis- 
torted. He (Marduk) carried in front his sharp 
weapon ; he broke her stomach ; he cut her in 
the middle, and pierced her heart ; he overcame 
her and cut short her life. He perceived her 
decease, and he raised himself proudly above 
her. When Tiamat, who walked before them, 
was conquered, he dispersed the soldiers ; her 
cohort was scattered, and the gods, her allies, 
who marched by her side, trembled, feared, and 
turned back. They sought refuge to save their 
lives, and they hid themselves as fugitives, de- 
spoiled of courage. But [he fell] upon them 
and broke their arms." (Lenormant, Beginnings 
of History, pp. 500-507.) This may be the 
original of the account of Berosus. The same 
cosmogonic struggle is found in the Phoenician 
traditions of Sanchoniathon and Pherecydes. 

Here, then, in Semitic mythologies and cos- 
mogonies, there is to be discovered, together 
with subordinate differences, rare agreement with 
Genesis in the leading facts connected with the 
creation. The personality of the First Great 
Cause is concealed, and polytheism is too evi- 
dent, but still the general agreement is so close 
as to be startling. The accounts of the creation 



GOD THE CREATOR. 43 

current among the Egyptians, Scandinavians, 
Hindus, and Zoroastrians furnish additional illus- 
trations, but we can not enter this inviting field. 
All these are doubtless wrecks of primitive 
revelations of God, modified, changed, corrupted, 
elaborated, adapted to foreign philosophies and 
mythologies, and yet, in all their wanderings, 
showing traces of their pristine divinity — at 
length, as far as is necessary for purposes of 
morality and religion, rescued, purified, spirit- 
ualized, and recorded by Moses under the direc- 
tion of the Holy Spirit, as we find them in 
Genesis. 



III. 



iao$fc ¥rm+ 



45 



III. 



" \ ND the Lord God commanded the man, 
l\ saying, Of every tree of the garden thou 
may est freely eat : but of the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it : 
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt 
surely die." (Genesis ii, 16, 17.) 

"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man 
is become as one of us, to know good and evil : 
and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take 
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever : 
therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the 
garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence 
he was taken. So he drove out the man; and 
he placed at the east of the garden of Eden 
cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned 
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." 
(Genesis iii, 22-24.) 

There are no distinct and direct traditions of 
these trees in the monuments, yet there are rep- 
resentations which render it certain that such 
traditions existed among the Babylonians. The 
Assyrian bas-reliefs present us with representa- 

47 



48 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

tions of a sacred plant guarded by celestial 
genii, or adored by royal figures. That this 
mysterious plant was a most important religious 
emblem is further shown in that the symbolic 
image of the supreme divinity is frequently seen 
floating above it as a winged disc, and sometimes 
surmounted by a human bust. This is also a 
frequent symbol on the cylinders. The Sabseans 
or Mandaitis of Bassorah are familiar with the 
tree of life. The most ancient name of Babylon 
was Tin-tir-ki, which signifies "the place of the 
tree of life." " The figure of the sacred plant, 
which we connect with the tree of the Edenic 
traditions, appears as a symbol of eternal life 
upon the curious sarcophagi of enameled pottery 
belonging to the last epoch of Chaldean civiliza- 
tion posterior to Alexander the Great, which have 
been discovered at Warka, the ancient Uruk." 
(Lenormant, Beginnings of History, p. 85.) 

This emblem has various forms. " The sim- 
plest consists of a short pillar springing from a 
single pair of rams' horns, and surmounted by a 
capital composed of' two pairs of rams' horns, 
separated by one, two, or three horizontal bands ; 
above which there is, first, a scroll resembling 
that which commonly surmounts the winged 
circle, and then a flower, very much like the 
' honeysuckle ornament' of the Greeks. More 



SACRED TREES. 



49 



advanced specimens show the pillar elongated, 
with a capital in the middle in addition to the 
capital at the top, while the blossom above the 
upper capital, and generally 
the stem likewise, throw 
out a number of similar 
smaller blossoms, which are 
sometimes replaced by fir- 
cones or pomegranates. 
Where the tree is most 
elaborately portrayed, we 



see, besides the stem and 




THE TREE OF LIFE. 



the blossoms, a complicated 
network of branches, which, 
after interlacing with one 
another, form a sort of arch 
surrounding the tree itself, 
as with a frame." (Rawlin- 
son, Ancient Monarchies, 
Vol. II, p. 7.) The cone was a magical charm 
of great power. Ea, " the vivifier and preserver 
of the human race," directs : " Take the fruit of 
the cedar, and hold it in front of the sick per- 
son ; the cedar is the tree which gives the pure 
charm, and repels the inimical demons, who lay 
snares." (Lenormant, Beginnings of History, 
pp. 92, 93.) 

The connection between this symbolic tree 

5 



50 WITNESSES FROM THE DEAD. 

and the sacred Soma plant of the Hindus, the 
Haoma of the Iranians, is quite possible. 

Prophetic trees, like the "talking oaks" of 
Dodona, in Greece, and the elon me'oneriim* or 
" oak of the diviners," near Shechem, were common 
among the ancients. God could make any tree 
the tree of knowledge. The Chaldeans had a 
tree which they called the "tree of light." 

The symbol of Assur, the supreme God, hov- 
ered over the tree of life. His goddess was 
Ki-shar, "the fruitful earth," the Semitic She- 
ruya, from which, perhaps, comes Ashera, wrongly 
translated "grove" in the Bible, "that pillar 
more or less richly ornamented, which formed 
the consecrated idol image of the terrestrial god- 
dess of fertility and of life in the Canaanite 
worship of Palestine." This, however, is con- 
jectural, and yet fruitful of thought. (Lenor- 
mant, Beginnings of History, pp. 97, 98.) 

More positive evidence is at hand. A cyl- 
inder of hard stone is preserved in the British 
Museum which is most interesting. Upon this 
cylinder is represented a tree with four and five 
nearly horizontal branches on either side, the 
two lowest branches bearing each a large bunch 
of fruit. A man wearing a Babylonian turban 
sits on one side of the tree and a woman sits on 
the other side. They stretch out their hands 



SACRED TREES. 51 

as if to pluck the fruit. Behind the woman a 
serpent stands upreared. (Smith, The Chaldsean 
Account of Genesis, pp. 88, 89.) This illus- 
trates the story of Genesis, and admits of no 
other satisfactory explanation. This symbolism 
seems to have found its way into Greek and 
Roman art, and its conventional forms were 
probably adopted by the early Christians. 

Among the Chaldseo-Assyrians a great ser- 
pent is mentioned, and called " the enemy of the 
gods," and " the huge seven-headed serpent, who 
pounds the waves of the sea." It reminds us 
of the Apocalyptic serpent of St. John, Rev. xii, 
9 ; xx, 2. The serpent appears as a tempter in 
Zoroastrianism. Great caution should be used 
in studying the great multitude of myths cur- 
rent in many lands, in which trees and serpents 
are prominent figures. They do not all admit 
of the same explanation. We believe, however, 
that we might with entire safety push our illus- 
trations much further. 



IV. 



>l$ isfr- jlppmu^fr litarfc 



53 



IV. 



SCHOLARS have been accustomed to seek 
the origin of the word " cherub " in Aryan, 
and especially Iranian, sources ; but since the 
resurrection of the literature of Chaldseo-Baby- 
lonian and Assyrian times this position must be 
abandoned. It now seems certain that the word 
is of pure Semitic origin. When used as a sub- 
stantive, it means a bull — from Karab, " to be 
strong." (cf. Ezek. i, 10 ; x, 14.) 

These " bulls " are the winged, human-headed 
bulls, crowned with the lofty cidaris, which 
guarded the gateways of the Assyrian palaces 
and temples. Supernatural genii were supposed 
to dwell in these colossal stone images as pro- 
tecting divinities. On a prism, deposited in the 
foundation of one of the palaces of Nineveh, we 
read : " The gates of fir, with solid panels, I have 
bound them with bands of silver and of brass, 
and I have furnished the gateways with genii, 
with stone colossi, which, like the beings they 
represent, overwhelm (with fear) the breast of 
the wicked, protecting the footsteps, conducting 

55 




FRONT OF ASSYRIAN PALACE, 



56 



THE GOD-APPOINTED GUARD. 



57 



to their accomplishment the steps of the king 
who made them ; to right and to left I have 
caused their bolts to be made." (Lenormant, 
Beginnings of History, pp. 122, 123.) 

These bulls are sometimes registered in the 
lists of divinities, and receive the invocations 
of the devout. As real 
living beings, they 
guard the gate of the 
infernal abode, and also 
the gates of the celes- 
tial palaces of the gods. 
In form the colossi 
guarding the gates of 
Assyrian palaces were 
bulls ; in nature the 
indwelling genii were 
called shedi, protecting 
divinities. They were 
also nanied Ki rubi, 
" cherubim." 

Esarhaddon, speak- 
ing of his royal pal- 
ace, says : " Bulls and 
lions, carved in stone, 

which with their majestic mien deter wicked en- 
emies from approaching, the guardians of the 
footsteps, the saviors of the path of the king, 




WINGED HUMAN-HEADED 
BULL. 



58 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

who constructed them right and left, I placed 
them at the gates." (Talbot, Records of the 
Past, Vol. Ill, p. 121.) 

The cherubim of the kings and prophets of 
Israel were certainly animals, and, indeed, quad- 
rupeds. (Ezek. i and x; 2 Sam. xxii, 11 ; Psa. 
xviii, 10.) An Assyrian cylinder in the British 
Museum illustrates the vision of the prophet 
Ezekiel, so exuberant in Assyrian imagery. It 
is thus described by Lenormant : " Upon the 
waves, designated as usual by undulating lines, 
floats a marvelous and animated bark, ending at 
poop and prow with a human bust, displaying 
half the body. On this bark are seen, in profile, 
two kirubi, or winged bulls, standing back to 
back, who turn their human countenance toward 
the spectator. These two kirubi necessarily 
suppose the existence of two others, hidden by 
them, who support the other side of the great 
shield which they carry upon their shoulders. 
On this shield is a throne, and seated thereon a 
bearded god, clad in a long robe, wearing a high 
tiara, or cidaris, on his head, holding in his hand 
a short scepter and a large ring, an unadorned 
circle. A personage of inferior size stands be- 
side the god, as awaiting his commands. This 
is evidently his angel, his malak, as they call it 
in Hebrew ; his shukkal, as it was expressed in 



THE GOD-APPOINTED GUARD. 



59 



Assyrian. He it is who is to fill the office of 
mediator, for purposes of communication between 
the god and the adorer who contemplates him in 
an attitude of devotion." (Lenormant, Begin- 
nings of History, pp. 127, 128.) The whole 




WINGED HUMAN-HEADED LION. 



complexity of Ezekiel's vision could not be rep- 
resented in plastic art ; but this is a fair approx- 
imation. 

The cherubim of the Ark of the Covenant, 
though emblems of divinity, were probably of 
some different form ; but the cherubim set to 
guard the entrance to Eden, were doubtless in 
form winged, human-headed lions, so familiar in 



60 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Assyrian sculpture, and winged, human-headed 
bulls, as the very name would indicate. 

Independent of the cherubim which guarded 
the gate was " the flaming blade of the sword 
which turns," as Lenormant renders the passage. 
This, like the wheel of Ezekiel, may have been 
a circular weapon revolving in a horizontal plane 
between the cherubim, so as to cut in pieces 
whoever ventured an attempt at entrance. It 
was entirely analogous to the disk, or tchakra, a 
mighty weapon in the hands of Indian heroes — 
a disk with a sharp edge, hollow in the center, 
and thrown horizontally with a rapid revolving 
motion. It is most interesting to find the He- 
brew word translated sword — lahat — under the 
form littu in Assyrian. This weapon is cele- 
brated in a most ancient fragment of lyric 
poetry : 

''In my right hand I hold my disk of fire; 
In my left hand I hold my disk of carnage. 
The sun with fifty faces, 
The high weapon of my divinity, 

I hold it. 
The weapon which devours entirely, 
Like the ogre, 

I hold it. 
That which breaks the mountains, 
The powerful weapon of the god Anu, 

I hold it. 



THE GOD-APPOINTED GUARD. 61 

That which bends the mountains, 
The fish with the seven fins, 

I hold it. 
The littu (sword) of the battle, 
Which devastates and desolates the rebellious land, 

I hold it. 

The whirlpool of the battle, 
The weapon of fifty heads, 

I hold it. 
Like unto the enormous serpent, 

With seven heads, 
Unto a wave which divides itself into seven branches; 
Like unto the serpent which lashes the waves of the sea, 
Attacking the eDemy in front, 
Devastating in the violence of battles, 
Dominatrix of heaven and of earth, 
The weapon of seven heads, 

I hold it. 

The weapon which fills the land 
With the terror of its vast strength. 
In my right hand, powerfully, 
The projectile of gold and of onyx, 
I hold it" 
(Lenormant, Beginnings of History, pp. 142, 143.) 

These may have been the symbolic forms 
under which the author of Genesis thought of 
the powers which guarded the way of the tree 
of life. 



V. 



>lp ]|xdhj J)aij* 



63 



V. 



THE obligation to Sabbath observance is 
based upon one of the deepest and most 
imperative wants of human nature. Both the 
animate and the inanimate world have their sea- 
sons of labor and rest. The Bible Sabbath is 
most sacred because it is the day sanctified by 
an express divine command, and because it com- 
memorates the Sabbath of God's rest after the 
work of the creation, and afterward, also, the 
rest of the Hebrews after their deliverance from 
Egyptian bondage. As the " Lord's Day " it com- 
memorates the resurrection of the Son of God. 

The number seven was held in special re- 
gard by the Chaldeans and the Assyrians. 
There were seven evil spirits, seven planetary 
gods, and a seven-headed serpent. Seven times 
seven were the number of sins which the peni- 
tent confessed before the gods. The mention 
of seven days occurs in various connections. 
Seven marks the stages of progress in Ishtar's 
entrance into Hades, and her return from the 
realm of shades. There are seven knots to be 

6 65 



66 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

tied in the magic handkerchief whose efficacy is 
to heal the sick, and the number seven is chanted 
in magic song. The mightiest weapon of the 
Babylonian war god was a disk, around the cir- 
cumference of which were seven sharp points. 
The great temple in Babylon rose in seven 
stages of seven colors, dedicated to seven gods. 
These are but a few of the many instances in 
which the number seven is used with deep sym- 
bolic and mystic import. 

There is a great astronomical work belong- 
ing to Babylonia and Assyria which consists of 
seventy tablets. It was compiled by Sargon, 
of Agane, in the sixteenth century before Christ, 
and has been translated by Professor Sayce. 
On one of the tablets are to be found the un- 
mistakable words, "The moon a rest, the sev- 
enth day, the fourteenth day, the twenty-first 
day, the twenty-eighth day, causes." (Trans- 
actions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 
Vol. Ill, pp. 145, 207, 213, 313.) 

The days on which the quarters of the moon 
began are called " days of Sulum," rest — a well- 
known word in the Bible. 

Professor Sayce has translated. "A Baby- 
lonian Saints' Calendar," and finds the same 
days, together with the nineteenth day of the 
month, marked as Sabbaths. The words which 



THE HOLY DAY. 67 

he renders " Sabbath " are Accadian, and equiva- 
lent to the Assyrian yum sulumi, or "day of 
completion (of labors)." The Accadian means, 
literally, dies nefastus. 

The prohibitions concerning the Sabbath pos- 
sess a strong Levitical cast. Concerning each of 
the sacred days there are minute prohibitory 
directions. Of the seventh day of Elul, the 
calendar reads : 

"A Sabbath. The prince of many nations 
the flesh of birds (and) cooked fruit eats not. 
The garments of his body he changes not. 
White robes he puts not on. Sacrifice he offers 
not. The king (in) his chariot rides not. In 
royal fashion he legislates not. A place of gar- 
rison the general (by word of) mouth appoints 
not. Medicine for his sickness of body he ap- 
plies not. To make a sacred spot it is suitable. 
In the night, in the presence of Merodach and 
Istar, the king his offering makes. Sacrifice he 
offers. Raising his hand, the high place of the 
gods he worships." (Sayce, Records of the Past, 
Vol. VII, pp. 160, 161.) 

These injunctions are repeated, with no ma- 
terial change for the other sacred days. These 
hebdomadal divisions are not continuous, but 
begin with the first of each .month, the last two 
days of the month being neglected. 



68 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The word Sabbath itself is found in the As- 
syrian inscriptions under the form Sabattu. It 
means " a day of rest for the heart." Certain 
other sacred days are called "joy of the heart," 
and seem to have been quite festive in their ob- 
servance. Sometimes Sabattu is equivalent to 
Gamaru, " to be completed," and may refer to 
the completion of the labors of the week. Here, 
however, it is a verb, and not a substantive. 

The idea of the Sabbath was certainly known 
to the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians. These 
sacred days which we have discussed differ no 
more widely from the Biblical Sabbath than 
would have been expected in the midst of poly- 
theistic surroundings. The wonder is, that there 
are so many marks of its primitive purity. 



VI. 



\vni Wafer** 



60 



VI. 



LEGENDS of the flood are current among 
many nations. We must confine our atten- 
tion to such as are closely related to the monu- 
mental records. 

Abydenus, who lived about B. C. 268, pre- 
served the following fragment from Berosus : 

"And, among other matters not irrelevant to 
the subject, he continues thus concerning the Del- 
uge. After Euedoreschus, some others reigned, 
and then Sisithrus (Xisuthrus). To him the god 
Kronos (•'. e., Saturn) foretold that, on the fifteenth 
day of the month Desius, there would be a del- 
uge, and commanded him to deposit all the writ- 
ings whatever he had in the City of the Sun, in 
Sippara. Sisithrus (Xisuthrus), when he had 
complied with these commands, instantly sailed to 
Armenia, and was immediately inspired by God. 
During the prevalence of the waters, Sisithrus 
(Xisuthrus) sent out birds, that he might judge 
if the flood had subsided. But the birds, pass- 
ing over an unbounded sea, and not finding any 

place of rest, returned again to Sisithrus. This 

71 



72 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

he repeated ; and when upon the third trial he 
succeeded — for the birds then returned with 
their feet stained with mud — the gods translated 
him from among men. With respect to the ves- 
sel, which yet remained in Armenia, it is a cus- 
tom of the inhabitants to form bracelets and 
amulets of its wood." (Cory, Ancient Frag- 
ments, p. 54.) 

Nicolaus, of Damascus, who lived about the 
time of Augustus, preserves the following tra- 
dition : 

" There is above Minyas, in the land of Ar- 
menia, a very great mountain, which is called 
Baris (i. e., a ship), to which it is said that 
many persons retreated at the time of the Flood, 
and were saved ; and that one in particular was 
carried thither in an ark, and was landed on its 
summit, and that the remains of the vessel were 
long preserved upon the mountain. Perhaps 
this was the same individual of whom Moses, 
the legislator of the Jews, has made mention.' , 
(Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 74.) 

A still more extended and interesting ac- 
count is that given by Alexander Polyhistor, 
who lived in Rome in B. C. 85 : 

" After the death of Ardates, his son, Xisu- 
thrus, succeeded, and reigned eighteen sari. In 
his time happened the great Deluge, the history 



GREAT WATERS. 73 

of which is given in this manner : The deity, 
Kronos, appeared to him in a vision, and gave 
him notice that upon the fifteenth day of the 
month Dsesia there would be a flood, bv which 
mankind would be destroyed. He therefore en- 
joined him to commit to writing a history of 
the beginning, progress, and final conclusion of 
all things down to the present term; and to 
bury these accounts securely in the city of the 
Sun at Sippara ; and to build a vessel, and to 
take with him into it his friends and relations ; 
and to convey on board every thing necessary 
to sustain life, and to take in also all species of 
animals that either fly or rove upon the earth, 
and trust himself to the deep. Having asked 
the Deity whither he was to sail, he was an- 
swered, ' To the gods ;' upon which he offered 
up a prayer for the good of mankind. And 
he obeyed the divine admonition, and built a 
vessel five stadia in length, and in breadth two. 
Into this he put every thing which he had got 
ready; and last of all conveyed into it his wife, 
children, and friends. After the flood had been 
upon the earth and was in time abated, Xisu- 
thrus sent out some birds from the vessel, which, 
not finding any food nor any place to rest their 
feet, returned to him again. After an interval 
of some days, he sent them forth a second time, 



74 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST 

and they now returned with their feet tinged 
with mud. He made a trial a third time with 
these birds, but they returned to him no more, 
from whence he formed a judgment that the 
surface of the earth was now above the waters. 
Having, therefore, made an opening in the ves- 
sel, and finding, upon looking out, that the 
vessel was driven to the side of a mountain, 
he immediately quitted it, being attended by his 
wife, his daughter, and the pilot. Xisuthrus 
immediately paid his adoration to the earth, 
and, having constructed an altar, offered sacri- 
fices to the gods. 

" These things being duly performed, both 
Xisuthrus and those who came out of the ves- 
sel with him disappeared. They who remained 
on the vessel, finding that the others did not 
return, came out, with many lamentations, and 
called continually on the name of Xisuthrus. 
They saw him no more, but could distinguish 
his voice in the air, and could hear him admon- 
ish them to pay due regard to the gods. He 
likewise informed them that it was upon account 
of his piety that he was translated to live with 
the gods ; that his wife and daughter, with the 
pilot, had obtained the same honor. To this he 
added that he would have them make the best 
of their way to Babylonia, and search for the 



GREAT WATERS. 75 

writings at Sippara, which were to be made 
known to all mankind, and that the place where 
they then were was the land of Armenia. The 
remainder having heard these words, offered sac- 
rifices to the gods, and, taking a circuit, jour- 
neyed toward Babylonia. 

" The vessel being thus stranded in Armenia, 
some part of it yet remains in the Gordysean 
Mountains, in Armenia, and the people scrape 
off the bitumen, with which it had been out- 
wardly coated, and make use of it by way of 
an alexipharmic and amulet. In this manner 
they returned to Babylon ; and having found 
the writings at Sippara, they set about building 
cities and erecting temples, and Babylon was 
thus inhabited again." (Cory, Ancient Frag- 
ments, pp. 60-63.) 

That these are veritable Chaldeean tradi- 
tions we can not doubt. One writer shows his 
knowledge of Moses, but, at the same time, 
proves that his own version of the story came 
from other sources. Berosus, as the priest of 
Bel, would have had access to Babylonian doc- 
uments deposited in the temple. 

Among the cuneiform tablets exhumed at 
Nineveh, and now in the British Museum, the 
late George Smith discovered and translated 
the great national epic of Izdubar — an epic in 



76 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

twelve cantos, celebrating the exploits of the 
hero. It may be compared with the twelve 
labors of Hercules, and may be distinctly solar 
in its character, following the sun's course 
through the heavens during the twelve months 
of the year. It may be also of historic impor- 
tance, and, in some of its cantos, have a basis 
in historic fact. Mr. Smith believes the hero 
to be Nimrod, and in this opinion a number of 
other scholars agree. The name " Izdubar " is 
merely provisional. 

Three copies of the poem belonged to the 
library of the palace of the king at Nineveh. 
These copies were made by Assurbanipal, in the 
seventh century before the Christian era, from 
an old copy which belonged to the sacerdotal 
library of one of the earlier monarchs of the city 
of Uruk. This latter copy may have been 
a thousand years old when it was used by 
the scribes of the king. Certain signs which 
had become unfamiliar were interpreted differ- 
ently by different scribes. " Finally, it has been 
ascertained," says Lenormant, " by comparing 
these same variations, one with the other, that the 
copy transcribed by order of Asshur-bani-abal 
was itself a copy of a still older manuscript, in 
which some interlinear glosses had already been 
added to the original text. Some copyists in- 



GREAT WATERS. 77 

troduced these into the text; others omitted 
them." (Lenorniant, Beginnings of History, pp. 
391, 392.) This carries back the date of the 
original composition to a period previous to 
Abraham. 

We will outline the contents of this epopee. 
The husband of Ishtar — he is called Dumzi or 
Dumuzi, the Tamzi or Tammuz of the Bible, 
"The Son of Life "—is the chief of Erech. 
After his death Ishtar reigns in his stead, and 
leads a dissolute life, becoming thereby the scan- 
dal of the kingdom. The kingdom is invaded 
and conquered by Humbaba, or Hubaba, a pow- 
erful Elamite, in B. C. 2280. 

Izdubar has a dream, in which the stars of 
heaven seem to fall and strike him on the back, 
while a terrible being, with claws like a lion, 
stands over him. He offers rich rewards to the 
wise men if they will interpret the dream, but 
they fail to show its interpretation. Izdubar is 
sorely troubled. 

There is living in the forest, far away from 
human society, with a cave for his home and 
wild beasts for his companions, a monster, half 
man and half bull, Heabani by name, possessed 
of great wisdom. Izdubar, with the help of 
Samas, the sun-god, Zaidu, the hunter, and two 
dissolute women, induces him to come to Erech, 



78 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

and, with his help, slays Humbaba and reigns 
in his stead. 

Ishtar proposes marriage to Izdubar, rind, 
upon being refused, stirs heavenly and infernal 
powers, and, though with great difficulty, visits 
the home of the shades. Every thing goes 
wrong while she is away from the earth, and 
the gods secure her recall. 

Anatu, her mother, plots against Izdubar, and 
smites him with a terrible disease. Heabani, his 
friend, is slain, and, in the midst of his great 
grief, he goes in search of his father, Hasisadra, 
son of Ubaratutu. His adventures are many. 
He reaches a fabulous region, peopled by mon- 
sters with feet resting in- hell and heads tower- 
ing into the heavens. They possess great power, 
and control the sun. A scorpion-man and his 
wife, " burning with terribleness," guard the 
gate. They yield to the pleading of Izdubar, 
and let him pass. He reaches the sea-coast, 
and his further progress is barred by two women, 
Siduri and Sabitu. The boatman, Nes-Hea, takes 
him aboard, and through many adventures and 
perils, he reaches the land where his father 
dw T ells, and to him unfolds his mission. Hasis- 
adra relates the story of the Deluge. 

Izdubar is cured of his sickness and returns. 
He laments the death of Heabani, whom Mar- 



GREAT WATERS. 79 

duk, at the command of Hea, calls from the 
" land without return, and causes to rise to 
celestial abodes, the home of the gods." 

The story of the Deluge is given in the elev- 
enth canto of the Izdubar epic. It has been 
several times translated : 

" I will relate to thee, Izdubar, the story 
of my deliverance, and I will also make known 
to thee the oracle of the gods. The city Su- 
rippak, the city which, as thou knowest, lies on 
the bank of the Euphrates, this city was very 
old when their heart impelled the gods therein 
to cause a deluge, — the great gods, all w 7 ho were 
there : their father, Anu ; their counselor, the 
warlike Bel ; their throne-bearer, Adar ; their 
guide, Ennugi." The sacred Accadian name of 
Surippak was Ma-uru, " the city of the ship." 
" The Lord of inscrutable wisdom, the god Ea, 
however, sat in council with them, and an- 
nounced their decision : ' Man of Surippak, son 
Ubaratutu,' said he, ' leave thy house and build 
a ship, and save all the living things thou canst 
find. They intend to destroy the seeds of life ; 
therefore do thou preserve alive seeds of life of 
every sort, and bring them up into the ship. 

"'The ship which thou shalt build 
cubits in length its measure, and . . . cu- 
bits the extent of its height and breadth. 



80 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Launch it also into the sea, and cover it with 
a roof.' As I heard this I said to Ea, my Lord : 
'If I shall perform the work, Lord, which 
thou hast commanded, the people and the elders 
will mock. Then Ea opened his mouth and 
spoke. He said to me, his servant : ' If they 
mock thee, thou shalt say to them : " I know 
that Bel is hostilely disposed towards me. I 
can not remain in this city ; in Bel's province I 
can not raise my hand. But I will not go down 
to sea, but remain by Ea, my Lord. But the 
heavens will rain down upon you a mighty 
flood of water ; men, birds, and cattle will per- 
ish." . . . Ea, however, ordered me to 
carry out his commands, and said to me, his 
servant : 6 Shut not the door of the ship before 
the time comes in which I shall bid thee. Then 
enter through the door of the ship and take into 
the ship thy stores of grain, all thy possessions 
and goods, thy family, thy servants, and thy 
maids, and also thy nearest relatives. The cattle 
of the field, the wild beasts of the field, will I 
send to thee that they may be guarded behind 
thy door.' Hasisadra opened his mouth and 
spake. He said to Ea, his Lord : c 0, my Lord, 
no one has ever built such a ship." . . 

At this point I take up the translation of 
Lenormant : 



GREAT WATERS. 81 

" On the fifth day its two sides were raised ; 
within its cover fourteen in all were its girders, 
fourteen in all it reckoned of them above. I 
placed its roof, and I covered it. I sailed in it on 
the sixth day; I divided its stories on the sev- 
enth ; I divided the interior compartments on 
the eighth. I stopped up the leaks by which 
water came in ; I searched for the cracks, and I 
added all that was lacking. I poured upon the 
outside three times 3,600 measures of bitumen, 
and three times 3,600 measures of bitumen on 
the inside. Three times 3,600 men, who were 
porters, carried on their heads chests of provis- 
ions. I kept 3,600 chests for the food of my 
family, and the sailors divided among themselves 
twice 3,600 chests. For supplying food I caused 
oxen to be killed ; I established distributing of 
portions for each day. In providing for the need 
of drink, some casks and some wine I gathered to- 
gether in quantity like the waters of a river and 
provisions in quantity like the dust of the earth ; 
to arrange them in the chests I put my hand." 

We return to the guidance of Professor Haupt, 
whom we left where his text was very imperfect; 
so much so that he has not attempted a transla- 
tion. The rendering which we have given from 
Lenormant must be considered, in some parts, 
highly conjectural. 



82 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

"All that I possessed I gathered together — 
all that I possessed of silver I gathered together, 
all that I possessed of gold I gathered together, all 
that I possessed of seeds of life I gathered to- 
gether, and all these I brought on the ship ; all my 
male servants and my female servants, the cattle 
of the field, the wild beasts of the field, also all 
my near kinsmen — all these I brought on board. 
When, at last, the sun-god brought on the ap- 
pointed time, then said a voice : 'At, evening will 
the heavens rain destruction. Embark in the 
ship and shut thy door. The appointed time is 
come,' said the voice; 'at evening will the heav- 
ens rain destruction.' With trembling I awaited 
the going down of the sun on this day, the day 
which was appointed for the beginning of the 
voyage. I feared, but I embarked in the ship, 
and closed my door behind me to shut up the 
ship. To Buzurkurgal, the helmsman, I en- 
trusted the mighty structure and its load. 

" Then arose Mu-seri-ina-namari " — a personi- 
fication of rain, " the water of twilight at the 
dawn of day" — "from the base of the heavens, 
a dark mass of clouds, in the midst of which 
the storm-god Rimmon made his thunder crash, 
while Nebo and Serru rush upon one another. 
The throne-bearers stride over mountain and 
valley ; the mighty god of .plagues sets free the 



GREAT WATERS. 83 

whirlwinds, Adar causes the canals continually 
to overflow ; the demons of the abyss, the 
Anunnaki, bring up floods and make the earth 
shake with their might ; the storm god's sea 
of waves mounts up to heayen; all light was 
changed to darkness. 

" Brother cares no more for brother ; men 
trouble themselves no more about one another. 
In heaven the gods are afraid of the deluge, 
and seek refuge. They flee up to the heaven 
of the god Anu. As a dog upon his bed, the 
gods crouch on the lattice of heaven, close 
together. The goddess Istar shrieks, as a woman 
in child-birth; the majestic goddess cries with a 
loud voice : ' Thus, then, is all turned to mud, 
which I prophesied to the gods as the impending 
evil. I have foretold to the gods this disaster, 
and have made known the war of destruction 
against my men. But I did not bring forth my 
men for this, that they might fill the sea as the 
young of fishes.' 

" Then the gods wept with her over the spir- 
its of the deep. Weeping, the gods sat on one 
spot, and pressed their lips together. Six days 
and seven nights, wind, flood, and storm main- 
tained their masterv. But at the break of the 
seventh day the storm ceased, and the flood sub- 
sided, which, like a mighty army, had fought a 



84 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

battle. The sea retired, the storm and the flood 
ceased. 

" I looked over the sea, loudly lamenting 
that the dwellings of men had been changed into 
mud. The corpses floated about like trunks of 
trees. An air-hole I had opened, and as the 
light of day fell upon my countenance, I re- 
coiled, and sat down weeping. My tears ran 
over my face. 

" In all quarters I looked upon a fearful sea. 
Towards the twelve abodes of heaven, no land. 
The ship drove towards the region of Nizir. 
A mountain of the region of Nizir held the ship 
fast, and let it go no farther. On the first and 
on the second day the mountain of Nizir held 
the ship fast, and let it go no farther. On the 
third and on the fourth day the mountain of 
Nizir held the ship fast, and let it go no farther. 
On the fifth and on the sixth day the mountain 
of Nizir held the ship fast, and let it go no 
farther. 

"At the dawn of the seventh day I took out 
a dove, and let her fly. The dove flew hither 
and thither ; but since there was there no rest- 
ing-place, she returned again to the ship. Then 
I took a swallow out, and let her fly. The 
swallow flew hither and thither ; but since there 
was there no resting-place, she returned again 



GREAT WATERS. 85 

to the ship. Then I took a raven out, and let 
him fly. The raven flew forth ; and as he saw 
that the water had fallen, he again came near, 
wading carefully through the water ; but he 
returned not again. 

" Then I let all out towards -the four w T inds. 
I offered there a sacrifice, and erected an altar 
on the summit of the mountain. I set up seven 
Adagur-vessels, and spread out under them 
reeds, cedar-wood, and lightning-plant. The gods 
breathed in the odor, the gods breathed in the 
sweet odor. Like flies, the gods crowded around 
the sacrifice. 

" As, thereupon, the goddess Istar came, she 
raised on high the great bows which Anu had 
made suitable for these gods. ' I will not forget 
this day. I will remember it, and never more 
forget it. The gods may come to the altar ; 
only Bel shall not come to the altar, because he 
acted rashly, and caused the deluge, and gave 
my men to destruction.' As then the god Bel 
drew near and saw the ship, he was startled. 
He was filled with anger against the gods and 
the spirits of heaven— '-the Igigi. 6 What soul 
has, then, escaped ?' No man shall remain alive 
from the destruction.' Then Adar opened his 
mouth, and spoke. He said to the mighty Bel : 
6 What other god than Ea can have contrived 



86 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

this ? Ea knew of our determination, and has 
told him all.' 

" Then the god Ea opened his mouth and 
spoke. He said to the mighty Bel : ' Thou art 
the mighty prince of the gods. But why, 
why hast thou so rashly acted, and caused the 
deluge ? Let his sins fall upon the sinner, and 
let his evil deeds fall upon the evil-doer ; but 
be gracious to him, that he may not be de- 
stroyed : pity him, that he may remain alive. 
Instead of again causing a deluge, let lions come 
and devour men ; instead of again causing a 
deluge, let hyenas come and diminish men ; in- 
stead of again causing a deluge, let a famine 
arise and depopulate the land; instead of again 
causing a deluge, let the god of pestilence come 
and destroy the men. I have not informed him 
(Hasisadra) of the determination of the great 
gods. I only sent him a dream, and he under- 
stood the determination of the gods.' 

" Then Bel came to his senses, entered into 
the ship, seized my hand, and raised me up ; 
he raised up also my wife, and laid her hand in 
mine. Then he turned to us, placed himself be- 
tween us, and pronounced upon us the blessing : 
' Hitherto was Samas-napistim a mortal man ; 
but now Samas-napistim and his wife, reconciled, 
are to be raised to the gods. But Samas-napis- 



GREAT WATERS. 87 

tim shall dwell in the far-off land at the " mouth 
of the streams." ' Then they took me and placed 
me in the far-off land at the ' mouth of the 
streams.' " (Haupt, in Schrader's Die Keilin- 
sehriften und das Alte Testament, pp. 55-79 ; 
Translation of Haupt by Burnham, in the Old 
Testament Student, Vol. Ill, 77-85 ; Lenormant, 
Beginnings of History, pp. 392-403, 575-588.) 

Placing these Chaldsean traditions, both his- 
toric and monumental, side by side with the Mo- 
saic record, it is easy to note important diver- 
gencies, together with many close agreements. 
The most important differences which force them- 
selves upon the attention refer to the building 
of the ark, the number of persons who are 
saved, the duration of the flood, and the final 
fate of Hasisadra, the Chaldsean Noah. These, 
except the last, in which the Chaldsean accounts 
seem to look toward Enoch, are of subordinate 
importance. The pronounced agreement through- 
out can not be overlooked. Sift the Chaldsean 
traditions of their polytheism, and this becomes 
more evident. 

Resemblances worthy of special regard are 
the forewarning concerning the flood, the direc- 
tions concerning preparations to meet it, the great 
destruction of life, the repentance of the gods, 
the sending out of the birds, the determination 



88 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

not to destroy the world again by a deluge, and 
the sacrifice. The sacred number seven also 
figures largely in the Chaldsean traditions. These 
resemblances, so close, at times so minute, so 
startling, can not be fortuitous. All the tradi- 
tions which we have given and the inspired rec- 
ord of Genesis must center in the same ultimate 
source. The diluvian tradition of the Aramaeans, 
derived from the Chaldsean, is also most interest- 
ing on these several points upon which it touches. 
Hindu traditions of the deluge are referred to by 
the eminent orientalist Eugene Burnouf as their 
home, and seem to have been superimposed upon 
earlier Vedic legends, vaguely hinted at in the 
most sacred books of Brahmanism. The Thes- 
salian deluge of Ducalion, though containing el- 
ements derived from the same ultimate source, is 
confused by the recollections of many engrafted 
local catastrophies. The indigenous traditions 
of Phrygia contain similar important legends. 
We may trace these diluvial traditions to Egypt, 
Scandinavia, and Wales, and with less certainty, 
because of local catastrophies and possibility of 
foreign influence, to America and Polynesia. 

Lenormant, at the close of his masterly re- 
view of the subject, concludes : 

'• The lengthy review of the subject in which 
we have been engaged leaves us in a position to 



GREAT WATERS. 89 

affirm that the account of the deluge is a uni- 
versal tradition in all branches of the human 
family, with the sole exception of the black 
race. And a tradition everywhere so exaet and 
so concordant can not possibly be referred to as 
an imaginary myth. No religious or cosmogonic 
myth possesses this character of universality. 
It must necessarily be the reminiscence of an 
actual and terrible event, which made so power- 
ful an impression upon the imaginations of the 
first parents of our species that their descend- 
ants could never forget it. This cataclysm took 
place near the primitive cradle of mankind, and 
previous to the separation of the families from 
whom the principal races were to descend; for 
it would be altogether contrary to probability 
and to the laws of sound criticism to admit that 
local phenomena, exactly similar in character, 
could have been reproduced at so many different 
points on the globe as would enable one to ex- 
plain these universal traditions, or that these 
traditions should always have assumed an iden- 
tical form, combined with circumstances which 
need not necessarily have suggested themselves 
to the mind in such a connection. . . . We need 
not hesitate to state that the Biblical Deluge, 
far from being a myth, was an actual and his- 
toric fact, which overwhelmed at the very least 



90 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the ancestors of the three races of Aryans or 
Indo^Europeans, Semites or Syro-Arabians, and 
Chamites or Kushites — in other words, the three 
great civilized races of the ancient world, who 
constitute the really superior type of mankind 
before the ancestors of these three races were as 
yet separated, and which occurred in that 
Asiatic country which they inhabited con- 
jointly." (Lenormant, Beginnings of History, 
pp. 487, 488.) 



VII. 



mfe xtF 



nnb 3ttb% nt %hnmt+ 



91 



VII. 

A CURIOUS legend, which has been thought 
to refer to the Tower of Babel, has been 
translated by George Smith, and again by W. 
St. Chad Boscawen. The tablet is too imper- 
fect to admit of a connected translation, and we 
can not be even sure that the correct meaning 
has been reached. 

It appears that by the command of some 
king — probably Etanna — the Babylonians were 
caused to sin against " the father of the gods," 
by building some temple-tower in Babylon or its 
vicinity. But what they built by day the of- 
fended gods threw down by night. However, 
they persevered in this labor, and the great god, 
"in his anger," poured out a secret decree — 
"to confuse their speech set his face," and "to 
make hostility in their counsel." The important 
phrase " to confuse their speech " is almost an 
exact counterpart of the words of Genesis xi, 7 : 
"Come, we will go down and there confound 
their speech." The gods then destroyed the 

"tower by a whirlwind and storm," and "this 

93 



94 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

sin of the Babylonians was to last like heaven 
and earth." 

The Biblical etymology of Babel, from babbel, 
"to confound," it would seem must be aban- 
doned. It is but a play on words, frequent in 
the Old Testament. Babel is probably from the 
Assyrian Bab-ili, "the gate of God," which the 
Bible, in derision, makes " the gate of confu- 
sion." The Assyrian Bab-ili is a translation of 
the old Accadian name of the town, a name of 
the same meaning, Ci-dimirra. Smith has se- 
lected from Babylonian gems three which he 
thinks may, in their distorted carvings, repre- 
sent this event. (Boscawen, Records of the Past, 
Vol. VII, pp. 131, 132; Smith, The Chaldsean 
Account of Genesis, pp. 161, et seq.) 

Abyclenus has preserved from Berosus the 
following account of the Deluge : 

" They say that the first inhabitants of the 
earth, glorying in their own strength and size, 
and despising the gods, undertook to build a 
tower, whose top should reach the sky, upon 
that spot where Babylon now stands. But when 
it approached the heaven the winds assisted the 
gods, and overturned the work upon its contriv- 
ers (its ruins are said to be at Babylon), and the 
gods introduced a diversity of tongues among 
men, who, till that time, had all spoken the same 



WORKS OF FOLLY AND DEEDS OF SHAME. 95 

language. And a war arose between Kronos 
(t. £., Saturn) and Titan; and the place in which 
they built the tower is now called Babylon, on 
account of the confusion of the languages ; for 
confusion is by the Hebrews called Babel." 
(Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 55.) 

We present another extract from Alexander 
Polyhistor : 

" The Sibyl says that when all men formerly 
spoke the same language, some among them un- 
dertook to erect a large and lofty tower, in 
order to climb into heaven ; but God (or the 
gods), sending forth a whirlwind, frustrated 
their ties ign, and gave to each tribe a particular 
language of its own, which {confusion of tongues) 
is the reason that the name of that city is called 
Babylon. After the flood Titan and Prome- 
theus lived, and Titan undertook a war against 
Kronos." (Cory, Ancient Fragments, p. 75.) 

Histiaeus, Eupolemus, and the Sibylline Or- 
acles furnish brief extracts. Eupolemus makes 
those who built the tower giants. From the 
Sibylline Oracles we read : 

" But when the judgments of Almighty God 
Were ripe for execution : when the tower 
Rose to the skies upon Assyria's plain, 
And all mankind one language only knew, 
A dread commission from on high was given 



96 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

To the fell whirlwinds, which, with dire alarms, 
Beat on the tower, and to its lowest base 
Shook it convulsed. And now all intercourse, 
By some occult and overruling power, 
Ceased among men. By utterance they strove, 
Perplexed and auxious, to disclose their mind, 
But their lip failed them ; and in lieu of words 
Produced a painful babbling sound : the place 
Was thence called Babel ; by the apostate crew 
Named from the event. Then severed, far away 
They sped, uncertain, into realms unknown : 
Thus kingdoms rose, and the glad world was filled." 
(Cory, Ancient Fragments, pp. 75-77.) 

Nebuchadnezzar, the great Babylonian builder, 
repaired this tower, and says : 

" The tower, the eternal house which I 
founded and built, I have completed its mag- 
nificence with silver, gold, other metals, stone, 
enameled brick, fir, and pine. 

" The first, which is the house of the earth's 
base, the most ancient monument of Babylon, I 
built and finished it. I have highly exalted its 
head with bricks covered with copper. 

" We say for the other — that is, this edifice, 
the house of the seven lights of the earth, the 
most ancient monument of Borsippa — a former 
king built it, they reckon forty -two ages ; but he 
did not complete its head. Since a remote time 
people had abandoned it, without order express- 
ing their words." 



WORKS OF FOLLY AND DEEDS OF SHAME. 97 

The translation of the last clause, however 
attractive to the Bible student, must probably be 
abandoned. (The Transactions of the Victoria 
Institute, Vol. XVII, p. 252.) 

"Since that time the earthquake and the 
thunder had dispersed the sun-dried clay. The 
bricks of the casing had been split, and the earth 
of the interior had been scattered in heaps. 
Merodach, the great god, excited my mind to 
repair this building. I did not change the site, 
nor did I take away the foundation. In a for- 



BABEL. 



tunate month, in an auspicious day, I undertook 

to build porticoes (?) around the crude brick 

masses and the casings of burnt bricks. I 

adapted the circuits, I put the inscription of my 

name in the kitir of the portico. 

9 



98 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

" I set my hand to finish it and to exalt its 
head. As it had been in former times, so I 
founded it, I made it. As it had been in an- 
cient days, so I exalted its summit." (Rule, 
Oriental Records, Monumental, p. 35, 36.) 

This tower — the Birs Mmrud of modern 
times — fell into decay after the fall of the Bab- 
ylonian empire. Xerxes broke down the upper 
stories, and carried away much spoil. Alexan- 
der the Great determined to restore the mighty 
structure, and employed ten thousand men for 
two months in clearing away the rubbish ; but 
the work ceased. The ruins have been carefully 
surveyed by Oppert, from whom our translation 
is taken. His most interesting description may 
be read with profit. Layard, Loftus, Rassam, 
and others also worked successfully in the same 
field. 

Borsippa was called by the Accadians "Bab- 
ylon the Second ;" and hence the explanation 
of the fact that classical writers included it in 
Babylon, and made the Euphrates pass through 
the city. This tower, " the house of the seven 
spheres of heaven and earth," is not the same as 
the great temple of Nebo, called Bit Zida, " the 
house of life," also built in Borsippa. The latest 
excavations of Mr. Rassam hav»e revealed both 
structures. 



WORKS OF FOLLY AND DEEDS OF SHAME. 99 




TOWER AT BABYLON. 



The following legend has been referred by 
Mr. Sayce to the overthrow of the cities of the 
plain. He suggests that Chedorlaomer may have 



100 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

learned the account in his campaign. Only one- 
half of the tablet is perfect; and its reference, 
hence, is uncertain : 

" An overthrow from the midst of the deep there came. 

The fated punishment from the midst of heaven de- 
scended. 

A storm like a plummet the earth (overwhelmed.) 

To the four winds the destroying flood, like fire, did burn. 

The inhabitants of the citie(s) it had caused to be tor- 
mented ; their bodies it consumed. 

In city and country it spread death, and the flames as 
they rose overthrew. 

Freeman and slaves were equal, and the high places it 
filled. 

In heaven and earth like a thunder-storm it had rained ; 
a prey it made. 

A place of refuge the gods hastened to, and in a throng 
collected. 

Its mighty (onset) they fled from, and like a garment it 
concealed (mankind). 

They (feared), and death (overtook them). 

(Their) feet and hands (it embraced). 

Their body it consumed. 
"... the city, its foundation it defiled. 
... in breath, his mouth he filled. 
As for this man, a loud voice was raised ; the mighty 

lightning flash descended. 
During the day it flashed; grievously (it fell). 

(Sayce, Records of the Past, Vol. XI, pp. 117, 118.) 



VIII. 



\da& jfwjdk 



101 



VIII. 

I^HE Assyrian tablets contain a most curious 
and interesting account of the revolt of the 
rebel angels ; at least we may refer it to this 
with considerable reason. Jude speaks of those 
who " kept not their first estate, but left their 
own habitation." (Jude, 6.) This may refer to 
a revolt in heaven. This tablet shows that such 
a tradition was current among the inhabitants of 
these venerable kingdoms. Job, who certainly 
did not draw from Israelitish sources, says that 
when God laid the foundations of the earth, 
"the morning stars sang together, and all the 
sons of God shouted for joy." 

The tablet of which we present a translation 
" seems to have been preceded by an account of 
the perfect harmony which existed in heaven 
previously." The first four lines are broken. 
They refer to a festival of praise and thanks- 
giving held in heaven. The account continues : 

" The divine Being spoke three times the 
commencement of a psalm. The god of holy 
songs, Lord of religion and worship, seated a thou- 

103 



104 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

sand singers and musicians, and .established a 
choral band, who to his hymn were to respond 
in multitudes. 

"With a loud cry of contempt, they broke 
up his holy song, spoiling, confusing, confound- 
ing his hymn of praise. The god of the bright 
crown, with a wish to summon his adherents, 
sounded a trumpet blast which would wake the 
dead, which to those rebel angels prohibited re- 
turn, he stopped their service and sent them to 
the gods who were his enemies. In their room 
he created mankind. The first who received life 
dwelt along with him. May he give them 
strength never to neglect his word, following 
the serpent's voice, whom his hands had made. 
And may the god of divine speech expel from 
his five thousand that wicked thousand who, in 
the midst of his heavenly song, had shouted 
evil blasphemies ! The god Ashur, who had 
seen the malice of those gods who deserted 
their allegiance to raise a rebellion, refused to 
go forth with them." The nine or ten lines of 
the tablet which remain are too much broken 
to admit of a translation. (Talbot, Records of 
the Past, Vol. VII, pp. 123-128.) 

The mediaeval Church held the opinion that 
mankind were created to fill the void in crea- 
tion caused by the revolt of the angels. 



IX. 



" mm ft* 



^imra^ % fiigj^ !f wtter*" 



105 



IX. 



THE archaeologist meets with many evidences 
of the warfare which primitive man must 
have long waged against savage wild beasts. 
His inventive genius was early exercised in 
constructing weapons wherewith to defend him- 
self, in these times when the race was young, 
against these enemies. He could not rest quite 
satisfied until he had demonstrated his domin- 
ion over every fowl of the air, beast of the field, 
and fish of the sea. The mighty man of these 
ancient days was the hero who could seize the 
fleet-footed antelope, slay the wild bull, and 
strike down the fierce lion. The man whose 
praises were in every mouth was the mighty 
hunter. He, above all others, was considered 
worthy of being made a king. Every man rec- 
ognized in him a leader and a ruler. Physical 
strength, endurance, agility, and courage were 
the qualities of a monarch. His hunting ex- 
ploits were deemed worthy of a place by the 
side of conquests of kingdoms and founding of 
cities, and were carefully recorded on monu- 

107 



108 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

merits or preserved in public archives, in words 
of most ample glorification. 

Tiglath-Pileser I— about B. C. 1120-1100— 
is said to have "demolished the wild animals" 
throughout his vast territories, and " extirpated 
all wild animals." Under the protection of his 
guardian deity, the Assyrian Hercules, he slew 
"four wild bulls, strong and fierce," and "ten 
large wild buffaloes." He took four buffaloes 
alive. On foot he slew one hundred and twenty 
lions, and from his chariot eight hundred more. 
" All the beasts of the field," says he, " and the 
flying birds of heaven, I made the victim of 
my shafts." (Rawlinson, Records of the Past, 
Vol. V, p. 21.) 

Of him some unknown scribe says : 
" In ships of Arvad he sailed, a grampus in 
the great sea he slew ; fierce and large wild 
bulls in the city of Araziki, which is opposite 
the land of the Hittites, and at the foot of Leb- 
anon, he killed ; the young wild bulls he cap- 
tured alive ; the property of them he collected ; 
the (adult) wild bulls with his bow he killed — 
the (young) wild bulls which he captured alive 
he brought to his city of Assur ; one hundred 
and twenty lions, with his heart valiant in brave 
attack, on his open chariot, on foot, with a club he 
slew; lions (too) with his spear he killed. . . . 



NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER. 109 

Wild goats, deer, spotted stags, ibexes, in herds, 
he took ; the property of them he collected 
and brought forth ; their young ones, like the 
youth of sheep, he counted ; leopards, tigers, 
jackals, two powerful bears, he slew ; wild asses 
and gazelles, hyenas, he killed. ... A great 
black crocodile, scaly beast of the river, and an- 
imals of the great sea, the king of Egypt caused 
to be brought; the men of his country he caused 
to feed. As to the rest of the numerous ani- 
mals and winged birds of heaven which, among 
the beasts of the field, were (also) the spoil of 
his hands, their names, together with animals of 
the land for multitude, were not written; their 
number with those (former) numbers was not 
written." (Houghton, Records of the Past, Vol. 
XI, pp. 9, 10.) 

A favorite sport of Asshur-izir-pal (B. C. 
883-858) was the dangerous pursuit of the wild 
bull. At one time, while hunting on the left 
bank of the Euphrates, he slew fifty wild bulls 
and captured eight alive. He also killed twenty 
ostriches and took the same number alive. This 
king possessed, near Nineveh, zoological gar- 
dens, in which were maintained many species 
of strange wild animals from surrounding na- 
tions. His love of the chase and his interest in 
all forms of animal life were so great that the 



110 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. . 

report thereof extended as far as Egypt, whose 
king, as a proper recognition of the character 
and taste of a mighty hunter, sent him a most 
acceptable present of several kinds of strange 
animals. In one inscription this ancient Nimrod 
is related to have captured and destroyed in 
Syria and the upper Tigris lions, wild sheep, 
red deer, fallow deer, ibexes, leopards, wolves, 
bears, jackals, wild boars, ostriches, foxes, hy- 
enas, wild asses, and several other kinds of an- 
imals not identified. In another expedition in 
the Mesopotamian desert, he destroyed three 
hundred and sixty large lions, two hundred and 
fifty-seven large wild cattle, and thirty buffar 
loes. He also captured alive and sent to Calah 
fifteen full-grown lions and fifty young lions, be- 
sides a multitude of leopards, wild cattle, wild 
buffaloes, ostriches, wolves, red deer, bears, 
cheetas, and hyenas. (Rawlinson, Ancient Mon- 
archies, Vol. II, pp. 90, 91.) 

We do not find in the early Chaldsean art 
any representations of hunting scenes, but they 
are abundant in the later Assyrian, and full of. 
interest, presenting, as they do, a complete his- 
tory of this royal sport. The great king, on 
these expeditions, rode in his chariot, attended 
by his charioteer and swordsman. A groom fol- 
lowed, leading a spare horse. The king was 



NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER. Ill 

armed with bow and arrows, a sword, and one 
or two daggers, and a spear, which stood in its 
rest in the back of the chariot. Two quivers 
of arrows, an ax in each, hung ready for his 
hand from the right side of the chariot. A 
shield, armed with teeth, was suspended behind. 
When a lion was roused from his lair, the king 
pursued him in his chariot and transfixed him 
with arrows. Sometimes the lion turned upon 
the chariot, and when he came to close quarters 
was met with spear and shield. The king would 
even descend from his chariot and attack the 
king of beasts in close combat with a short 
sword, which he plunged into his heart. In- 
deed, in later times, the king generally went on 
these noble expeditions on foot, two attendants 
waiting close upon him with bow, arrows, and 
spears. Sometimes an attendant carried spear 
and shield, with which he protected the king 
from the enraged animal's spring. These precau- 
tions, however, were seldom taken. Not a little 
peril, it will readily be believed, attended these 
royal hunts. 

Assurbanipal, in an inscription appended to 
one of his sculptures, says : 

" I, Asshur-banipal, king of the nations, king 
of Assyria, in my great courage fighting on foot 
with a lion, terrible for his size, seized him by 



NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER. 113 

the ear, and in the name of Asshur and Ishtar, 
Goddess of War, with the spear that was in my 
hand, I terminated his life." 

Dogs were held in leash to start the game. 
Sometimes the monarch, with a select band of 
attendants, was rowed along a stream in a boat, 
while beaters on either bank startled the lions. 
The king attacked those which took to the 
water. When slain they were suspended from 
the hind part of the vessel. 

When game was not so plenty, lions were 
brought from distant countries for kingly sport. 
At the proper time, the lion was let out of his 
cage. " The king, prepared for his attack, sa- 
luted him, as he left his cage, with an arrow, 
and, as he advanced, with others, which some- 
times stretched him dead upon the plain, some- 
times merely disabled him, while now and then 
they only goaded him to fury. In this case he 
would spring at the royal chariot, clutch some 
part of it, and in his agony grind it between his 
teeth, or endeavor to reach the inmates of the 
car from behind. If the king had descended 
from the car to the plain, the infuriated beast 
might make his spring at the royal person, in 
which case it must have required a stout heart to 
stand unmoved, and aim a fresh arrow at a vital 

part while the creature was in mid-air, especially 

10 



114 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



if (as we sometimes see represented) a second 
lion was following close upon the first, and would 
have to be received within a few seconds." The 
representations of Assyrian art are frequently 
very spirited and lifelike. (Rawlinson, Ancient 
Monarchies, Vol. I, pp. 344 et seq., and 505 
et seq.) 

Many other details of hunting are given, so 
that it is even possible to follow the monarch 
from the time he sets out to slay his noble game 
until he returns in triumph and pours out a 
thank-offering over the bodies of the dead beasts 




KING POURING LIBATION OVER FORMS OF DEAD LIONS. 

to Ninip and Nergal, the gods of the chase, who 
have given strength to his arm, and precision to 
his swift shafts. The Nimrud series of sculp- 
tures is most important in this connection. 

The bull, especially, is fully represented as 
right royal game. We see him pursued by char- 
iots, horsemen, and footmen, either separately or 



NIMROD, THE MIGHTY HUNTER. 



115 



all together ; we watch him as he prances among 
the reeds, sleeping, fighting the lion, charging 
the chariot of the As- 
syrian Nimrod, wound- 
ed by deadly weapons, 
falling in death-throes, 
dead, and lying in state 
awaiting religious cer- 
emonies. (Rawlinson, 
Ancient Monarchies, 
Vol. I, pp. 512, 513.) 
The wild ass, the stag, 
and the ibex were less 
noble game. 

These were not un- 
worthy successors of 
Nimrod, who hunted 
in the same plains so 
successfully that his 
prowess became pro- 
verbial, and it was said 
of kings and princes who were mighty in the 
chase that they were " even as Nimrod, the 
mighty hunter before the Lord." (Gen. x, 9.) 




NIMROD. 



anir 1mm 



117 



X. 



"TTR of the Chaldees" has been recovered. 
U Mounds of ruins on the westward side of 
the Euphrates mark the birth-place of Abraham. 
Ur gave the name of Uru-ma, Ur-ma, or Urunu- 
ma, " Ur-land," to the whole region of Accad. 




MUGHEIR, OR UR OF THE CHALDEES. 

The plain extends from the Euphrates to the 
Tigris, the Biblical Hiddekel, and from the Per- 
sian Gulf to the country of Upper Mesopotamia. 

119 



120 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The " ships of Ur " sailed from its port laden 
with grain, dates, and other fruits. Irrigated 
like a well-watered and well-tended garden, the 
land was the richest of all Asia. The wheat 
would produce even three hundred-fold. The 
stately date-palm of endless uses has been cele- 
brated in all ages. Spontaneously the gifts of 
God were produced in abundance for the use 
of man. This, " the cradle of Semitic civiliza- 
tion," was "highly civilized and densely popu- 
lated at a time when Egypt was still in its 
youthful prime." 

The ruins of Ur, now called Mugheir, show 
that it was a walled town of oval form, large 
and populous. In the time of Abraham it was 
a great commercial post and the capital of Chal- 
dsea. It was devoted to the worship of Sin, 
Hurki, or Hur, the moon-god. On its great 
temple the nightly watches were kept, hymns 
chanted, omens cast, sacrifices offered, votaries 
received, and justice dispensed. On the bricks 
of the temple the king's devotion is commemo- 
rated in such inscriptions as this : " Ligbagas, 
king of Ur, has built the temple of the god Sin." 
The city was most holy, and seems to have been 
the great cemetery of the nation — holy ground, 
where the forms of loved ones were laid to rest. 
Some of the liturgical hymns in use by this 



UR AND HARAN. 121 

ancient people have been recovered, and exhibit 
not a few beauties. 

Ligbagas built temples to Hurki, Nana or 
Ishtar, Samas, Bel, Belat, and Sar-Ili. " Poly- 
theism glittered in scrolls of light in the con- 
stellations of the firmament. It measured days 
and months and years and cycles, and by its au- 
guries of good or ill decided the least ways of 
house-life and the greatest collisions of nations. 
It has been observed that the gods were iden- 
tified with stars before the invention of writing 
in Babylonia, 'and that the most natural symbol 
of a deity was thought to be a star,' which is 
accordingly the ' determinative ' of the names of 
gods in cuneiform inscriptions." (Tomkins, Times 
of Abraham, pp. 12, 13.) 

Astral-worship, so wide-spread among the old 
races, was already an important element in the 
religion of the Chaldees. The learned priest- 
hood observed the pole-star ; brilliant Orion ; cer- 
tain stars called interpreters, judges, and coun- 
selors ; the sun and moon ; the planets, with 
their searching " eyes ;" Mercury, " the mes- 
senger of the rising sun ;" Venus, in her love 
and beauty ; Saturn, sinister and dark ; Jupiter, 
patron of Babylon ; and Mars, " he who goes 
forth in heavenly strength ;" and the whole heav- 
enly host. Beneath all this was a darker sys- 

11 



122 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

tern of magic and elemental worship. Ligbagas 
is thought to have been the founder of the 
Cushite religion in Chaldsea. 

A kind of Sabbath was known at Ur, and 
the moon-god was invoked as " Lord of Rest." 
The idea of the One God was not entirely 
lost. " When we penetrate beneath the sur- 
face of gross polytheism it had acquired from 
popular superstition, and revert to the original 
and higher conceptions, we shall find the whole 
based on the idea of the unity of the Deity, the 
last relic of the primitive revelation disfigured 
by and lost in the monstrous ideas of pantheism, 
confounding the creature with the Creator, and 
transforming the Deity into a god-world, whose 
manifestations are to be found in all the phe- 
nomena of nature." This is the judgment of 
Lenormant. 

The following hymn is addressed to the god- 
dess of Erech : 

"In Erech, the chief city, the fast has been observed; 
In Ulbar, the home of thy power, I have made blood 

run like water ; 
In all thy land I have (kindled) the fire, and wide it has 

spread. 
Lady ! over the wicked my strength has greatly prevailed. 
The mighty rebel thou bendest like to a very reed ! 
Not to my own will do I cling ! I boast not of myself! 
Even as a flower of the waters, day and night I fade. 






UR AND HARAN. 123 

(Verily) I am thy servant ! I bind myself to thee ! 
Thy (might) evermore be established ! Ever thy falchion 
flame !" 

Among the sacrifices offered to the gods of 
Ur, we are compelled to include human victims. 
Among the doctrines taught with more or less 
clearness in the priestly schools of Ur were, the 
presence of sin, the certainty of future retribu- 
tion, the origin of temptation and transgression, 
the flood, the judgment to come, and everlasting 
life. There are also evidences of a belief in the 
resurrection of the dead. Marduk, identified with 
Silik-mulu-khi, possesses the power of " bringing 
the dead back to life." 

Auguries, spells, incantations, imprecations, 
phylacteries, invocations, and many magical for- 
mulae were common. 
• Abraham stored his mind with proverbs like 

these : 

' ' Thou go'st to spoil 
The field o' th> foe! 
One comes to spoil 
Thy field,— the foe !" 

" O, be it mine to eat the fruit of death, 
And so transform it into fruit of life!" 

As he walked in his fields, he sung the song 
of good omen : 

"The wheat of uprightness 
Unto its top of thriving growth shall press : 



124 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The secret spell 

We know right well ! 

The wheat of plenteousness 
Unto its top of thriving growth shall press : 
The secret spell 
We know right well !" 

As he worked with his cattle, he sang : 

" Heifer that thou art, 
Be yoked to the cow ; 
The plow's handle is strong ; 
The share cuts deep — 
Lift it up, 
Lift it up!" 

(Tomkins, Times of Abraham, p. 29 ; 
Sayce, Babylonian Literature, p. 69.) 

From this most ancient Chaldsean kingdom 
Babylonia and Assyria inherited much of their 
civilization and literature and many of their 
laws, arts, and sciences. The most ancient title 
found among the kings is that of " shepherd." 
Royalty was hereditary, though the lines were 
frequently broken by conquest or usurpation. 
Sometimes it would appear that the king was 
almost adored as a god. Some were deified after 
their death, and at least two while yet living. 
The king was also sovereign pontiff, and the 
priestly and other functions were hereditary. 
The power of the chiefs, which might easily 



UR AND HAZAN. 125 

degenerate into a tyranny, was hedged about by 
several important traditional safeguards. Society 
retained much of its patriarchal character, and 
the mother was highly honored in family and 
social life. 

About a hundred business tablets have been 
recovered, and these show how Abraham gained 
his knowledge of business principles and forms, 
and was educated to the acquisition of wealth, 
so that in his later years, while a stranger in a 
strange land, he proved himself a most success- 
ful business man. His history shows him to 
have been prudent in his commercial dealings. 

The magic, which we have already men- 
tioned, afforded the darkest part of Abraham's 
education, and that from which, in all probabil- 
ity, his soul most revolted. One illustration 
will suffice. Sickness was believed to be caused 
by some evil spirit. The sickness of a man is 
thus described : 

" The evil curse, like a demon, fixes on a man ; 
A raging voice over him is fixed ; 
An evil voice over him is fixed. 
The evil curse is a great calamity. 
That man the evil curse slaughters like a lamb ; 
His god from over him departs ; 
His goddess stands angry at his side ; 
The raging voice, like a cloak, covers him and carries 
him away." 



126 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The evil spirit must be cast out, and for this 
purpose the following exorcism may be em- 
ployed : 

" (On) the sick mam by means of sacrifice, 
May perfect health shine, like bronze ! 
May the Sun-god give this man life ! 
May Merodach, the eldest son of the deep, 
(Give him) strength, prosperity, (and) health ! 
May the King of heaven preserve, 
May the King of earth preserve !" 

His sickness may have been caused by an 
enemy invoking dark powers against him. In 
such case he may use a counter-charm and 
avenge himself upon his foe : 

"Like unto this herb he is destroyed, 
And the spell shall burn with burning flame. 
To its several stock it shall not return ; 
To the dish of the god or the king it shall not be brought ; 
So shall it be with the man for whom this enchantment 

is used. 
The evil invocation, the pointing of the finger, 
The marking, the cursing, the sinning, 
The sickness that is in my body, my limbs, or my teeth, 
Like this herb may it be rooted out, 
And on this day may the consuming fire consume. 
May the spell be driven out 
And return to its dwelling-place." 

(Tomkins, Times of Abraham, pp. 38, 39.) 

The land of Ur, in the days of Abraham, 
was already irrigated by means of canals, yet 



UR AND HA RAN. 127 

this was more perfectly done under later kings. 
Many tablets refer to this important work. The 
banks of the streams were protected by dykes 
to guard against destructive floods which some- 
times ruined whole cities. The houses were of 
brick, and were plastered and ornamented. They 
probably had terraced roofs, where the family 
could repose at night, and were furnished with 
subterranean chambers, to which they could 
retire during the extreme heat of the day in the 
Summer season. 

The graves of the departed were strongly 
constructed. The body was laid naturally on its 
left side. In the left hand was placed a copper 
bowl containing food for the journey to the land 
of the dead ; the right hand was trained above 
it ; the seal-cylinder, so important in business 
and other transactions, was worn upon the wrist ; 
and drinking vessels were close at hand. . 

The migration from Ur took place when Elam 
was pressed upon by the Aryans from the East, 
and in turn overcame Chaldsea on their West. 
Abraham's was a noble family — Ur was the 
capital of a great nation, " a' city renowned and 
venerated with especial honor, the sanctuary of 
a splendid religion, the mart and haven of a 
thriving commerce, the walled fortress of a royal 
military system." 



128 WITNESSES FROM THE DEAD. 

In the Eponym Canon the identical name 
" Abram " is found as the name of a court officer 
of Esarhaddon. Other names of the same char- 
acter are to be found both in Chaldsea and in 
Egypt. In the reign of Kamumragas, very near 
the time of Abraham, if not really during his 
residence at Ur, " Abu-ha, son of Ismiel," is a 
witness to some contracts. The name of the 
father of Abu-ha is identical with that of the son 
of Abraham. (Tomkins, Times of Abraham, p. 
46.) Sarah is the Assyrian surrat, "queen," and 
Milcah, the daughter of Haran, is the Assyrian 
milcat, "princess." 

It is six hundred miles from Ur to Haran, 
an outpost of the Chaldsean power. The region 
is called Padan-Aram, or simply Padan (Genesis 
xlviii, 7), a name known to Agu-kak-rimi, a Cos- 
ssean or Elamite king, who probably preceded 
Abraham. It was "the key of the highway 
from the east to the west." The religion was 
like that of Ur, and Haran remained a strong- 
hold of heathenism for many centuries after 
Christianity had secured a lodgment at Edessa. 

Mr. Malan, in describing the country, says : 
"One can quite understand that the sons of this 
open country, . . . the Bedaweens, love it, 
and can not leave it; no other soil would suit 
them. The air is so fresh, the horizon is so far, 



UR AND HARAN. 129 

and man feels so free, that it seems made for 
those whose life is to roam at pleasure, and who 
owe allegiance to none but to themselves. ... 
The village of Haran itself consists of a few 
conical houses, in shape like bee-hives, built of 
stones laid in courses, one over the other, with- 
out either mud or mortar; these houses let in 
the light at the top, and are clustered together 
at the foot of the ruined castle built on the 
mound, that makes Haran a landmark plainly 
visible from the whole plain around. That same 
day I walked at even to the well I had passed 
in the afternoon, coming from Oorfa ; the well 
of this the city of Nahor, 'at the time of the 
evening, the time that women go out to draw 
water.' There was a group of them filling, no 
longer their 'pitchers,' since the steps down 
which Rebekah went to fetch the water are now 
blocked up, but filling their water-skins by draw- 
ing water at the well's mouth. Every thing 
around that well bears signs of age and of the wear 
of time, for, as it is the only well of drinkable 
water, it is much resorted to. Other wells are 
only for watering the flocks. There we find 
the troughs of various height for camels, for 
sheep and for goats, for kids and for lambs ; 
there the women wear nose-rings and bracelets 
on their arms, some of gold or of silver, and 



130 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

others of brass, or even of glass. One of these 
was seen in the distance bringing to water her 
flock of fine patriarchal sheep ; ere she reached 
the well, shepherds, more civil than their breth- 
ren of Horeb, had filled the troughs with water 
for her sheep. She was the Sheikh's daughter, 
the 6 beautiful and well-favored' Ladheefeh. As 
the shadows of the grass and of the low shrubs 
around the well lengthened and grew dim, and 
the sun sank below the horizon, the women left 
in small groups ; the shepherds followed them, 
and I was left alone in this vast solitude. Yet 
not alone ; the bright evening star in the glow- 
ing sky to westward seemed to point to the 
promised land, as when Abraham took it for his 
guide ; the sky overhead, clear and brilliant as 
when he gazed on it, and the earth, the ground 
on which he trod, all spake a language heard 
nowhere else. The heavens whispered and the 
earth answered, ' walk by faith,' ' stagger not at 
the promise of God through unbelief,' but do as 
Abram did, 'be strong in faith, giving glory 
to God/ and 'by thy works make thy faith per- 
fect.' There is also for thee a promised land — 
thy home. Keep thine eye thereon, and thou, 
stranger and pilgrim on the earth, believe him 
that promised, as Abraham did ; ' seek ' as he 
did, 'a better country, that is an heavenly,' and 



UR AND HARAN. 131 

it shall be counted unto thee for righteousness." 
(Tomkins, Times of Abraham, pp, 55-57.) 

Thus these strange old cities come up from 
the dust of centuries and stand before us again 
as when the "Father of the Faithful" made 
them his home. 



XL 






133 



XI. 



" \ ND it came to pass in the days of Am- 
jT\. raphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of 
Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, 
king of nations, that these made war with Bera, 
king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Go- 
morrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, 
king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is 
Zoar. All these were joined together in the vale 
of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years 
they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth 
year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year 
came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were 
with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth 
Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim 
in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their 
mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wil- 
derness. And they returned and came to En- 
mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the 
country of the Amalekites, and also the Amor- 
ites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar." (Genesis 
xiv, 1-7.) 

In the racial records of Genesis Elam is made 

135 



136 ■ WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the first-born of Shem. In the fourteenth chap- 
ter we find the title " King of Elam." The name 
does not occur again till on the day of Pentecost 
Elamites met with those of other races in the 
upper chamber in Jerusalem. Chedorlaomer, 
"King of Elam," in the passage quoted above, 
appears as the overlord of three other kings, and 
these monarchs of the East avenge themselves 
upon the nations of the West for their rebellion. 
This history was a mystery to all Bible stu- 
dents, till within a few years Elam has risen 
and shaken off the dust of millenniums, and now 
stands before their wondering eyes in her great- 
ness and power as one of the mighty empires of 
the Oriental world. To the east of the lower 
course of the Tigris lies the country which was 
the "Elam 1 ' of old. The name Elamu is "but 
a translation of the Old Accadian name of Su- 
siana, JVumma, a word connected with the Vogul 
numcm, *high.' : Mr. Loftus gives a charming 
account of the highland country forming a part 
of Elam. Susa, " the city of lilies," has been 
immortalized in the story of Esther, the beauti- 
ful Jewish maiden. Chaldsean tradition marks 
the mountains of Nizir, three hundred and fifty 
miles north-west of Susa, as the place where the 
ark rested at the subsidence of the Noachian 
Deluge. It was in the mountains of Elam that 



TWO GIANT WARRIORS. 137 

Izdubar, a name famous in the great Chaldaean 
epic, sought out, in his palace of pines and 
cedars, and slew the tyrant Humbaba. Susa, 
the capital, occupied a plain of most luxuriant 
fertility. Here is the " tomb of Daniel," with 
which so many legends are connected. On the 
eastward rolls the Eulseus, the "river Ulai" of 
Scripture, the eastern branch of the Choaspes, 
the modern Korkhah, whose waters were so pure 
as to form the drink of kings. Here are to be 
found precious relics which antedate the life of 
Abraham. 

"At the summit of the divine hierarchy 
were Susinka (meaning, ' the Susian'), the na- 
tional god of Susa, and' Nakhkhunte, a gooddess 
who (they tell us) had in this town her image, 
unseen by the profane, in the depth of a sacred 
wood." Below these two chief divinities were 
six gods, one of whom was Lagamar ; and be- 
low these again were twelve other gods and 
goddesses. There were also a number of Cos- 
saean gods, whose names are given by M. Le- 
normant. We are interested in but two of 
these names, Nakhkhunte and' Lagamar. 

Assurbanipal relates in his annals that when 
he conquered Elam he brought back from Susa 
an image of the goddess Nana, which Kudur- 
Nakhkhunte had captured when he overran Bab- 

12 



138 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

ylonia, sixteen hundred and thirty-five years 
before. Assurbanipal took Susa in B. C. 645 ; 
hence the conquest of Babylonia by the Elamite 
king must have been in B. C. 2280. This con- 
firms Genesis in its statement of an early con- 
quest of Babylonia by the Elamites. 

In Southern Chaldsea have been found in- 
scriptions of an Elamite king — Kudur-Mabug — 
who assumes the title "Lord of Phoenicia" as 
well as " Lord of Elam." George Smith consid- 
ered this king the same as the Chedorlaomer of 
Genesis. The first element of the name, Kudur, 
is the same as Chedor, of Chedorlaomer. Kudur- 
Mabug had a son, Eriaku or Arioch, who was 
associated with his father, and had for his capi- 
tal Larsa, now Senkereh, between Erech and Ur, 
and identified with Ellasar. Now, Lagamar is 
an Elamite god, and the king may have borne 
the name as a religious title. An analogous 
name is Kudur-Nakhkhunte, already mentioned, 
and an Elamite king is known to have called 
himself "the servant of Lagarnar." This last 
name is the latter element in the name of the 
Elamite king whose campaign is recorded in 
Genesis, and the identification is exceedingly 
probable, if not complete. 

Speaking of Larsa — Ellasar — Mr. Loftus 
says : " The whole area of the ruins is a ceme- 






TWO GIANT WARRIORS. 139 

tery ; wherever an excavation was made, vaults 
and graves invariably occurred, and the innumer- 
able cuneiform records contained in them sub- 
stantiate their undoubted antiquity. So numer- 
ous were the clay tablets, I almost arrived at 
the conclusion that the fine brown dust of the 
mounds resulted from their decomposition." 

Shinar is found in the inscriptions as Sumir, 
and Amraphel is found as Amarpal, a name 
" borne by private persons on two cylinders 
of ancient workmanship," as discovered by M. 
Lenormant. The Groim, or " nations," are iden- 
tified with the " Guti," or " Grutium," of the 
inscriptions — Semitic tribes dwelling north of 
Babylonia, of whom one part afterward be- 
came the Assyrians. Tidal, the king, in the 
Septuagint Thargal, according to Sir Henry 
Rawlinson, is easily read Tur-gal, " great chief." 
Elam, then, is worthy of a place among the great 
nations of antiquity, and must be named in con- 
nection with Babylonia and Assyria. In follow- 
ing this army in its march to Canaan, its battles 
and victories, and final defeat by a Abram the 
Hebrew," and his allies, we are obliged to pick 
our way among most scanty records, and yet 
much light can be let in on this obscure subject. 

Collecting his forces, Chedorlaomer passed 
up the Euphrates, which stream he crossed prob- 



140 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

ably at Carchemish, the ancient stronghold of 
the Hittites, and urged on his way past Aleppo, 
Hamath, and Emesa to Damascus, which, doubt- 
less, rendered him tribute. He first cut off the 
supports of the rebel kings by sweeping the 
whole highland region east of the Jordan and 
subduing the antique tribes which occupied this 
wild territory, where nature seemed yet fresh 
from the hand of God. 

First among these tribes were the Rephai'm, 
whose stronghold was Ashteroth Karnaim, or 
"Astarte with the two horns." The goddess 
was represented, as on a Syrian altar, discovered 
by Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake, crowned with the 
crescent moon. In the Egyptian inscriptions 
she is found as the goddess of the Hittites, and 
Astaratu can only be identified with this city of 
her worship. Rephaim, in later times, is used 
in the Bible for " the dead," or " the ghosts or 
manes of the dead." Such is the meaning on 
the sarcophagus of Esmunazar, of which more 
hereafter. 

Southward were the Zuzim in Ham. Ham 
" has been identified with Hameitat, about six 
miles to the east of the lower part of the Dead 
Sea. We know nothing of the race, and but 
little of the Emim. The latter are mentioned in 
the inscriptions, as well as their twin towns, 



TWO GIANT WARRIORS. 141 

Shaveh-Kiriathaim. The Horites were wild 
mountain people, dwelling in the ravines and 
ridges of Seir. They are named in the Egyptian 
inscriptions. Thus even " unto El-paran " the 
whole range of the mountains was harried, and 
all opposition put down. Then, with a military 
grasp of the situation which will compare favora- 
bly with the strokes of military genius of the 
world's great warriors, " they returned, and came 
to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all 
the country of the Amalekites." " Kadesh, of 
the land of Amaor," was captured by Seti I, 
of Egypt, and is represented in relief as a for- 
tified place on a hill-side. The country is culti- 
vated, plants grow round the banks of a pool, 
and cattle are driven away by herdsmen. It is 
the Kadesh-Barnea of Scripture. Amu was the 
Egyptian general name for the Semitic tribes of 
Asia. The Heru-sha seem to have included the 
Amalekites among their nomad tribes. 

Now the king drew near the special object 
of his expedition. He skirted the western bor- 
der of the " salt sea " up to Hazezon-tamar or 
En-gedi. Here he was obliged to force the pass 
defended by the fierce Amorites. Hazezon-tamar, 
a the felling of the palm-trees" — its name still 
lingers after nearly four thousand years in the 
name of the pass Hazziz (2 Chron. xx, 16), or, 



142 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

as it is pronounced to-day, Husasa, the land at 
the top of the pass — was one of the very oldest 
cities of the world. 

" The name of the Amorites still survives in 
several places in the locality. The Egyptian art- 
ists represent the Amorites with long hair, sallow 
complexion, blue eyes, eye-brows and beard red, 
and hair black. The hair ' was bound by a fillet, 
sometimes ornamented with small disks. Their 
dress was a long, close tunic, with short sleeves, 
bound round the waist by a girdle with falling 
ends. They were armed with the bow and ob- 
long shield, and used chariots of solid construc- 
tion, fit for rough ground.' Their standard was 
' a shield pierced by three arrows, and sur- 
mounted by another arrow fastened across the 
top of the staff.' " 

After smiting the Amorites, Chedorlaomer 
climbed the mountain pass to a height of eight- 
een hundred feet, and, over hill-tops and across 
valleys, pressed forward until he entered the 
plain of the Jordan. Fourteen years before this, 
while Abram was yet in Haran, the chieftains 
of the plain had been subdued by the great king 
of Elam from two thousand miles away. It 
must have been with great alarm that they now 
learn that he is again upon them. They rouse 
themselves — the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, 



TWO GIANT WARRIORS. 143 

Admah, Zeboiim, and Belah or Zoar. They mar- 
shal their forces, and go out to meet the allied 
armies in the " vale of Siddim." 

" The name ' shed ' is ' given to the genii, or 
demigods, who wielded the powers of nature, 
represented by the winged bulls which guarded 
the portals, sometimes replaced by winged lions, 
which symbolized a similar genius. This is, in- 
deed, both in name and meaning, identical with 
the ' shedim ' (' devils ' in our version) of Deu- 
teronomy. (Deut. xxxii, 17 ; Psalm cvi, 37.) 
Shed may be identified with Set, an Egyptian 
deity, which was also a god of the Hyksos. It 
has been suggested that if we omit the points, 
6 the vale of Siddim' (Gen, xiv, 3, 8, 10) may 
be read 6 the valley of Shedim,' where the Ca- 
naanite gods were specially worshiped. These 
' shedim ' were the idols of Canaan." (Fraden- 
burgh, Methodist Quarterly Review, 1883, pp. 
282, 283.) 

The kings of the five cities suffer a terrible 
defeat. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah are 
slain ; those who can escape flee to the mount- 
ains. The king of Elam takes great spoil, and, 
having accomplished the . object of his expedi- 
tion, begins his homeward march. Lot, Abram's 
nephew, was among the prisoners being carried 
away to death or slavery. "And there came 



144 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

one who had escaped, and told Abram the He- 
brew." Abram was then a king, and stood at 
the head of a confederacy. His allies were 
Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. He gathers his forces, 
and marches out in swift pursuit of Chedorlaomer, 
who now, careless and at ease, rejoicing in his 
great victories and enjoying his rich spoils, fear- 
ing no enemy, leisurely takes his way home- 
ward. 

It was on the fifth night. " He divided him- 
self against them, he and his servants by night, 
and smote them." The battle was at Dan. The 
captives and spoils are retaken, and the enemy 
are pursued, even unto Hobah, " on the left- 
hand of Damascus" — north of Damascus, " on 
the left-hand" as you face the rising sun. 
Hobah is known in Egyptian records. The place 
is still shown " in the corner of the vast plain, 
just where the bare hills, intersected by a deep 
ravine, descend on the mass of verdure, which 
reaches up to the very foot of the rocks." 
Here the pursuit ceases, and Abram and his 
servants return, while the king, unmolested, 
leads his army across the Euphrates, and home. 

We are indebted to Rev. Henry George Tom- 
kins for these details. A full discussion may be 
found in his admirable monograph of " Studies 
on the Times of Abraham." 



XII. 



Jftjjajptm mb %***$ in Jit$$i 



13 



145 



XII 



IN the hall of sacrifice of the rock-tomb of 
Khnumhotep, at Beni-Hassan, there are many 
rich paintings representing scenes in Egyptian 
life, which must always possess surpassing inter- 
est to the student of early history. Among 
these scenes is an illustration of the history of 
the descent of the sons of Jacob into Egypt. A 
Semitic family of Amu had left their native land 
when Usurtasen ruled Egypt, to seek a home 
in the fertile valley of the Nile. There were 
thirty-seven persons — men, women, and children, 
who stand before Khnumhotep in the sixth year 
of the reign of the king, Usurtasen II. 

When they had reached the nome of Khnum- 
hotep, an " overseer," Khiti by name, had been 
appointed to take charge of the immigrants. 
" The royal scribe, Noferhotep," offers to his lord 
a report written upon a leaf of papyrus, inform- 
ing him of the nationality and mission of the 
strangers. The scribe is followed by Khiti, the 
overseer. Behind him is the chief of the immi- 
grants, " chieftain of the land of Abesha " — 

147 



148 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

compare Abishai, the sister's son of David. This 
prince offers as a present a wild goat. Behind 
him are the rest of the family — bearded men, 
armed with spears, bows, and clubs ; women, with 
bright-colored dresses, their children, and the 
asses laden with their goods. One member of 
the family plays upon his lyre. The inscription 
explains : " This is the arrival to bring the eye- 
paint Masmut, which thirty-seven Amu bring to 
him." This paint was a black cosmetic, where- 
with the Egyptians dyed their eyebrows and 
eyelids, and was furnished by the Arabs or 
Shasu, who inhabited Pitshu or Midian. A sim- 
ilar migration was that of Abraham, and at a 
later period that of Jacob and his family. 

In the nineteenth century a report was sent 
to the king concerning the admission of for- 
eigners. The writer says : 

" (I will now pass) to something else which 
will give satisfaction to the heart of my lord ; 
(namely, to report to him), that we have per- 
mitted the races of the Shasu of the land of 
Aduma (Edom) to pass through the fortress Khe- 
tam (Etham) of King Mineptah-Hotephimaat — 
life, weal, and health to him ! — which is situated in 
the land of Sukot, near the lakes of the city of 
Pitom, of King Mineptah-Hotephimaat, which is 
situated in the land of Sukot, to nourish them- 



ABRAHA M AND JOSEPH IN EGYPT. 149 

selves and to feed their cattle on the property 
of Pharaoh, who is a gracious sun for all nations." 

The Shas-u were the Bedouins of early times, 
and belonged to the Semitic race of the Amu. 
The Sa'ir was one of the Shasu tribes. Here we 
must not fail to recognize the Biblical Seirites. 
The Edomites, or children of Esau, inherited 
the name. (Brugsch; Egypt under the Pharaohs, 
Vol. I, pp. 177-179, 247-249.) 

The fear which Abram felt lest he should be 
despoiled of his wife and suffer death shows his 
intimate acquaintance with Egyptian habits. In 
the story of Saneha, the king of Egypt sends 
two armies to fetch a most beautiful woman, and 
to murder her husband. (Renouf, Records of 
the Past, Vol. II, pp. 146, 147.) 

In the twelfth century the wife and children 
of a foreigner are confiscated and become the 
property of the king. This instance is related 
in the Hieratic Papyrus of Berlin, in such terms 
as to show that such was a custom of the Egypt- 
ian Pharaoh. This occurred at a time not far 
from the date of the visit of Abram to Egypt. 
The discovery of such confirmations of Scripture 
is most interesting. (Speaker's Commentary, 
Vol. I, Part I, p. 445.) 

The circumstances connected with the recep- 
tion of Abraham and Joseph in Egypt, and the 



150 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

honors they received at the hands of the reign- 
ing Pharaohs, have been well illustrated in the 
history of the immigration of the Semitic chief- 
tain Abesha and his train. Equally striking is 
the story of Saneha, preserved on one of the 
oldest papyri in existence. The events related 
belong to the time of Amenemha I and Osirta- 
sen I, the first two kings of the twelth dynasty. 
Saneha, on account of some dissatisfaction, left 
the court of the Pharaoh, and traveling eastward 
and northward, after escaping manifold dangers, 
reached the land of Edom and the petty king- 
dom of Tennu. The king of the land received 
him cordially, and heaped upon him many honors. 
The story proceeds : 

"He placed me over his children, he married 
me to his eldest daughter, he endowed me with 
a part of his land of the choicest which belonged 
to him, from one extremity to the other. 
Moreover, license was conferred upon me of 
going wherever I chose. He made me master 
of servants of the choicest of his land. There 
was given me bread of Mant, wine daily, of 
flesh a. dish of fowl in a plate, besides the game 
of the field, which was prepared for me and was 
brought to me, besides that which was supplied 
for my dogs. . . . All men respected me. 
I gave water to the thirsty, I set the wanderer 



ABRAHAM AND JOSEPH IN EG YPT. 151 

in the way. I took away the oppressor of the 
Sakti, putting a stop to violence; the rulers of 
lands, I caused them to come. The king of 
Tennu permitted me to pass many years amongst 
his people." 

After slaying a disagreeable champion he 
was raised to still higher honors, but in his 
old age he desired to return to Egypt. The king 
of* Egypt granted his permission, the king of 
Tennu consented, and with rich presents Saneha 
again returned to the land of his early manhood. 
The Pharaoh proclaimed : 

" He shall be a counsellor among the officers, 
he shall be set among the chosen ones. When 
ye go forth to the palace, precedence shall be 
given to him. When he goes out of the palace, 
the king's children shall attend him, proceeding 
even unto the great gates." 

Saneha says : " I was installed in the house 
of a prince ; there were treasures in it, there was 
a fountain in it, the dews of heaven watered it. 
From the treasury (were sent) garments of kingly 
attire, spices of the finest, such as the king's 
nobles love in every chamber. ... I was 
clothed with fine linen ; I nvas anointed with 
the finest oil. . . . There was given me a 
house . . . befitting a. counsellor. There 
were many laborers employed to build it ; all its 



152 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

timbers were new. There was brought refresh- 
ment from the palace three or four times a day, 
besides what the king's sons gave. No sooner 
was it finished than I built myself a tomb of 
stone amongst the tombs of the chief officers. 
His majesty chose its site. The chief painter 
designed it, the sculptors carved it, the chief 
purveyor, who was over the upper country, 
brought earth to it ; all the decorations were made 
of hewn stone. When it was ready I was made 
superior lord of the field in which it was, near 
the town, as was done to the chief counselor. 
My image was engraved upon its portal of pure 
gold. His majesty caused it to be done. No 
other was made like unto it. I was in favor of the 
king until the day of his death came." (Goodwin, 
Records of the Past, Vol. VI, pp. 131-150.) 

The reception of Abraham and Joseph, and 
the honors shown them, were entirely consistent 
with the customs and feelings of the time. 

A papyrus in the hieratic character, now in 
the British Museum, was composed by the scribe 
Anna for Seti II, son of Meneptah II, of the 
nineteenth dynasty, when he was crown prince. 
This papyrus contams the " Tale of Two Broth- 
ers," and the first part of the story bears so 
close a resemblance -to the story of Joseph and 
Potiphar's wife that we would be justified in 



ABRAHAM AND JOSEPH IN EG YP T. 1 53 

drawing the inference that the latter, as recorded 
in Genesis, had been worked up and incorporated 
in the Egyptian tale. 

"And he sent his younger brother, saying to 
him, ' Hasten and bring us seed-corn from the 
village.' And the young brother found the wife 
of his elder brother occupied in braiding her hair. 
And he said, ' Rise up, give me seed-corn, that I 
may return to the field ; for thus has my elder 
brother enjoined me, to return without delay.' 
The woman said to him, ' Go in, open the chest, 
that thou may est take what thy heart desires, 
otherwise my locks will fall by the way.' And 
the youth entered into the stable, and took there- 
out a large vessel ; for it was his wish to carry 
away much seed-corn. And he loaded himself 
with wheat and grains of durra, and went out 
with it. Then she said to him, ' How great is 
the burden on thine arm ?' He said to her, 
' Two measures of durra and three measures of 
wheat, making together five measures, which rest 
on my arms.' Thus he spake to her. But she 
spake to the youth, and said, 6 How great is thy 
strength ! Well have I marked thy vigor every 
time.' And her heart knew him. . . . And she 
stood up and laid hold of him, and she said to 
him : ' Come, let us enjoy an hour's rest. The 
most beautiful things shall be thy portion, for I 



154 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

will prepare for thee festal garments/ Then the 
youth became like to the panther of the south 
for rage, on account of the evil word which she 
had spoken to him ; but she was afraid beyond 
all measure. And he spoke to her, and said : 
' Thou, woman, hast been to me like a mother, 
and thy husband like a father ; for he is older 
than I, so that he might have been my parent. 
Why this so great sin that thou hast spoken to 
me ? Say it not to me another time ; then will 
I not tell it this time, and no word of it shall 
come out of my mouth about it to any man 
whatsoever.' And he loaded himself with his 
burthen, and went out into .the field. And he 
went to his elder brother, and they completed 
their day's work. 

" When it was now evening, the elder brother 
returned home to his dwelling. And his young 
brother followed behind his oxen, which he had 
laden with all the good things of the field, driv- 
ing them before him, to prepare them for their 
resting-place in the stable in the village. And, 
behold, the wife of his elder brother was afraid 
because of the word which she had spoken, and 
she took a jar of fat, and she was like one to 
whom an evil-doer had offered violence. She 
wished thereby to say to her husband, ' Thy 
young brother has offered me violence/ And her 



ABRAHAM AND JOSEPH IN EGYPT. 155 

husband returned home at evening, according to 
his daily custom, and entered into his house, and 
found his wife lying stretched out and suffering 
from injury. She gave him no water for his 
hands, according to her custom. And the lamp 
was not lighted, so that the house was in dark- 
ness. But she lay there, and vomited. And 
her husband spoke to her thus : ' Who has had 
to do with thee ? Lift thyself up !' She said 
to him: 'No one has had to do with me except 
thy young brother ; for when he came to take 
seed-corn for thee, he found me sitting alone, 
and said to me, Come ! let us make merry an 
hour and rest ! Let down thy hair ! Thus he 
spake to me ; but I did not listen to him, (but 
said,) See ! am I not thy mother, and is not thy 
elder brother like a father to thee ? Thus I 
spoke to him; but he did not hearken to my 
speech, and used force with me, that I might 
not make a report to thee. Now, if thou 
allowest him to live, I will kill myself.' : The 
younger brother flees, and after many mar- 
vels is justified, and becomes king of Egypt. 
(Brugsch, Egypt Under the Pharaohs, Vol. I, 
pp. 309-311.) 

A similar story is " The Tale of the Garden 
of Flowers," translated by Chabas. Another 
tale, found in a very fragmentary condition 



156 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

among the papyri collected for the museum of 
Boulaq by Mariette-Bey, and nearly contempo- 
rary with the Exodus, makes mention of gar- 
ments taken away, as in the story of Joseph. 
(Chabas, Records of the Past, Vol. VI, pp. 
151-156.) 

Apopi ruled as a tyrant at Avaris, and Ra- 
Sekenen, under-king in Thebes or No, " the city 
of the South," had in some way incurred his 
displeasure. Apopi had attempted a radical re- 
form in the worship. "And the king Apopi 
chose the god Set for his divine lord, and he 
did not serve any of the gods which were wor- 
shiped in the whole land." Among the things 
required of Ra-Sekenen was that he should for- 
get the gods of his fathers, and worship Set 
alone. Ra-Sekenen agreed to all, but added that 
" he was not able to pledge his assent [to serve] 
any other of the gods that were worshiped in 
the whole country, but Amon-Ra, the king of 
the gods alone." A new message, drawn up by 
a council, and approved by the king Apopi, was 
sent to the unyielding king in " the city of the 
South." The papyrus relates : 

" Many days later after these events, King 
Apopi sent to the governor of the city in the 
South country this message, . . . which his 
scribes had drawn up for him. And the mes- 






ABRAHAM AND JOSEPH IN EGYPT. 157 

senger of King Apopi betook himself to the 
governor of the city in the South. And [the 
messenger] was brought before the governor of 
the city in the South country. He spoke thus, 
when he spoke to the messenger of King Apopi : 
' Who hath sent thee hither to this city of the 
South ? How art thou come, in order to spy 
out ?' " Being told that King Apopi sent him, 
the king of the South permitted him to deliver 
his message. " And the governor of the city in 
the South country was for a long time troubled 
so that he could not answer the messenger of 
King Apopi." He called his councilors around 
him ; but they, too, were in distress. " But they 
were silent, all of them through great grief, and 
wist not what to answer him, good or bad." As 
the result of this correspondence, there was a 
great uprising of the Egyptians, which accom- 
plished the expulsion of the Hyksos rulers and 
the establishment of Egyptian independence. We 
only wish at present to call attention to the ad- 
dress of Ra-Sekenen to the messenger of Apopi : 
" Who hath sent thee hither to this city of the 
South ? How art thou come, in order to spy 
out ?" And to compare this with the words Jo- 
seph addressed to his brethren : " Whence come 
ye ? Ye are spies, and ye are come here to see 
the nakedness of the land" — the exposed con- 



158 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

dition of the country. (Genesis xlii, 7, 9, 
Brugsch, Egypt Under the Pharaohs, Vol. I. 
pp. 274-278.) 

These are but a few of the remarkable con- 
firmations furnished by the monuments in illus- 
tration of the history of Israel in Egypt. 



XIII. 



" Is $bgp t p&tlpmaj k fcrerm/' 



159 



XIII. 



DREAMS, in which the mind becomes a 
" wizard chamber of dissolving views," have 
given rise to a multitude of superstitions. Primi- 
tive races have explained the phenomena in 
accordance with their peculiar religious systems. 
It has been thought that the soul leaves the 
body in sleep and wanders abroad, feasts with 
the gods, and, returning, remembers the things 
seen and heard during its absence. 

"With grief and blows when worn and torn, 
If sleep we may, we wake at morn, 
Refreshed in every nerve and thought, 
Because this marvel hath been wrought ; 
The instant that asleep we fall, 
The soul escapes its fleshly pall, 
And is absorbed in heaven from this. 
To lave with love, and bathe in bliss 
Its stiffened and flagging powers 
Through all the nightly slumberous hours ; 
And when returning morn arrives, 
It fresh from God's embrace revives." 

The gods talked with the soul in sleep, either 
visiting the habitation of the soul or visited by 
the soul in their own habitation. Hence the 

14 161 



162 WITNESSES FROM THE DEAD. 

importance attached to dreams as expressions of 
the divine thought and will. There are pro- 
phetic dreams recorded in the Bible. God spoke 
to men in dreams, in days of old, because a 
revelation given in this manner was most con- 
sistent with their own long-established ideas. 
He ever graciously accommodates himself to the 
intellectual, as w T ell as spiritual, condition of the 
people whom he visits. Man had thought that 
the gods spoke to him in dreams; and the Grod 
of heaven so spoke to man. He was all that 
the highest ideals pictured as belonging to 
heathen gods ; he was infinitely more. The 
dreams recorded on the monuments are quite 
similar to those of Scripture. The examples 
presented will awaken lively interest when com- 
pared with the dreams recorded in the Bible, 
and will show how true the Holy Scriptures are to 
the spirit of the age in which they were written. 

When Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, was at 
Arbela, in the month Ab, news was brought him 
of the invasion of Tiumman, king of Elam. The 
king of Assyria prayed to Ishtar, goddess of 
war, to "destroy him, and crush him with a 
fierv bolt from heaven!" 

The account proceeds : " In the night-time 
of that night in which I had prayed to her, a 
certain seer lay down and had a dream. In the 



"TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM." 163 

midst of the night Ishtar appeared to him, and 
he related the vision to me thus : Ishtar, who 
dwells in Arbela, came unto me begirt right and 
left with flames, holding her bow in her hand, 
and riding in her open chariot, as if going to the 
battle. And thou didst stand before her. She 
addressed thee as a mother would her child. 
She smiled upon thee, she, Ishtar, the highest of 
the gods, and gave thee a command. Thus : 
Take (this bow), she said, to go to battle with! 
Wherever thy camp shall stand, I will come to it. 

" Then thou didst say to her thus : queen 
of the goddesses, wherever thou goest let me go 
with thee ! Then she made answer to thee thus : I 
will protect thee, and I will march with thee at the 
time of the feast of Nebo. Meanwhile eat food, 
drink wine, make music, and glorify my divinity, 
until I shall come and this vision shall be fulfilled. " 

Then the seer adds: "Thy heart's desire 
shall be accomplished. Thy face shall not grow 
pale with fear ; thy feet shall not be arrested ; 
thou shalt not even scratch thy skin in the bat- 
tle. In her benevolence she defends thee, and 
she is wroth with all thy foes. Before her a 
fire is blown fiercely to destroy thy enemies." 

The prophecy was fulfilled. Assurbanipal 
gained a great victory, Tiumman was slain, and 
his head was sent to Nineveh. A bas-relief in 



164 WITNESSES FROM DUST. 

the British Museum represents a man in a car 
driving at great speed, and holding in his hand 
the head of a warrior, with the inscription, " the 
head of Tiumman." 

Gyges, the king of Lydia, of whom an- 
cient story has much to say, while he was locked 
in the embrace of sleep and dreamed, received a 
revelation from the god Assur, concerning the 
future glory of the kingdom of Assurbanipal, and 
immediately recognizing the will of the god, sent 
a messenger to seek for him the friendship of 
the king of Assyria. (Smith, Records of the 
Past, Vol. I, p. 7*0 ; Vol. IX, pp. 41, 42.) 

Again, a certain seer " dreamed a remarkable 
dream," most propitious in its character, which 
he related to Assurbanipal to his great comfort 
and encouragement. (Smith, Records of the 
Past, Vol. IX, p. 50.) Ishtar, on another occa- 
sion, appeared to his army in a dream, and 
said : " I march in front of Assurbanipal, the 
king whom my hands made," at which inspir- 
ing announcement the soldiers greatly rejoiced. 
(Smith, Records of the Past. Vol. I, p. 85.) 

In the second tablet of the Izdubar series 
the hero of the great epic has a dream. The 
stars of heaven seem to fall and, in their descent, 
strike him upon the back. He sees standing 
over him a fearful creature, whose face is terrible 






" TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM." 165 

and whose claws are like the claws of a lion. 
His dream troubles him, and he offers to any 
one who will interpret the dream, honors to 
himself and family, many wives, and rich jewels. 
He applies at last to Heabani, a satyr or faun, 
represented in Assyrian art with the feet and 
tail of an ox, and with horns on his head (cf, 
Leviticus xvii, 7 ; 2 Chronicles xi, 15 ; Isaiah 
xiii, 21 ; xxxiv, 14), who is promised still greater 
honors if he will interpret the dream. All other 
interpreters would seem to have failed. Samas, 
the sun-god, who may have been the father of Iz- 
dubar, intercedes in behalf of the hero, and Hea- 
bani yields to the flattering promises and comes to 
Erech, the home- of Izdubar, not, however, with- 
out the enticements of Zaidu, the hunter, and 
Samhatu and Harimtu, the courtesans, whose 
names, in marked appropriateness, mean "joy' 1 
and " seduction." The tablets are so imperfect 
that the interpretation of the dream of Izdubar, if 
revealed, is not given. Dreams occupy a promi- 
nent place in some of the other tablets. 

A stile discovered at Napata, among the 
ruins of the temple of Amen-Ra, probably of 
the twenty-fifth Egyptian dynasty, reads : 

" His majesty beheld a dream in the night — 
two snakes, one to bis right, the other to his 
left, (and) when his majesty awoke he found 



166 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

them no more. He said, ' (Explain) these things 
to me on the moment ;' and lo ! they explained 
it to him, saying, ' Thou wilt have the southern 
lands and seize the northern, and the two crowns 
will be put upon thy head; (for) there is given 
unto thee the earth in all its width and its 
breadth, (and there will not be) another (who 
can compete) with thee in power.' His majesty 
having risen upon the seat of Hor this (very) 
year, when his majesty went out of the spot 
which he was in, even like Hor goes out of his 
place of state, when he went out as (a king, he 
found) thousands and thousands coming after 
him; (and) said his majesty, • Verily it was true 
what I dreamt! A boon it is for him who acts 
after God's heart ; a plague for him who does 
not know it!' When his majesty went to Na- 
pata, there was no one who withstood his 
march." (Maspero, Records of the Past, Vol. 
IV, pp. 81, 82.) 

Once upon a time the son of Thotmes III 
had been hunting the gazelle and throwing the 
spear at targets for his pleasure, near Memphis. 
At the approach of noon, dismissing his serv- 
ants, that they might rest, he went to the 
temple of Sokar, in the necropolis, to present to 
the god Hormakhu and the goddess Rannu an 
offering of " the seeds of the flowers on the 






" TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM." 167 

heights," and to pray to Isis. The sphinx, be- 
tween whose paws was the temple, was wor- 
shiped by the Egyptians as " The Sun on the 
Horizon." Beneath its shade, wearied with the 
toil of the way and oppressed by the heat of 
the fiery rays of the meridian sun, he reclined, 
and sleep overtook him. "He dreamed in his 




PYRAMID AND SPH 



slumber at the moment when the sun was at the 
zenith, and it seemed to him as though this great 
god spoke to him with his own mouth, just as a 
father speaks to his son, addressing him thus : 
" Behold me ! Look at me, thou my son 



168 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Thutmes. I am thy father, Hormakhu, Khepra, 
Ra, Turn. The kingdom shall be given to 
thee, . . . and thou shalt wear the white 
crown and the red crown on the throne of the 
earth-god Seb, the youngest (among the gods). 
The world shall be thine in its length and in its 
breadth, as far as the light of the eye of the 
lord of the universe shines. Plenty and riches 
shall be thine ; the best from the interior of the 
land and rich tributes from all nations ; long 
years shall be granted thee as thy term of life. 
My countenance is gracious towards thee, and 
my heart clings to thee ; [I will give thee] the 
best of all things. 

" The sand of the district in which I have 
had my existence covers me up. Promise me 
that thou wilt do what I wish in my heart; 
then shall I know whether thou art my son, my 
helper. Go forward ; let me be united to thee." 
(Birch, Records of the Past, Vol. XII, pp. 43- 
49 ; Brugsch, Egypt under the Pharaohs, Vol. 
I, pp. 465, 466.) 

When Thotmes IV came to the throne, obey- 
ing the divine behest revealed in the dream 
which we have related, he cleared away the 
vast accumulation of sand from the body of the 
sphinx, and erected a memorial stone before the 
breast of this majestic symbol of the sun-god 



" TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO DREAM." 169 

Hormakhu, thus immortalizing his own piety as 
well as the account of his dream. The monu- 
ments furnish ample illustrations of the impor- 
tance attached to dreams both in Assyrian and 
in Egypt. 

15 



XIV. 



^amitm in JIgijpi* 



171 



XIV. 

A DECREE of Canopus, in hieroglyphic and 
demotic, translated from the original Greek, 
and dated B. C. 238, mentions a famine "in the 
time of the former kings." 

'"When, moreover, there happened a year of 
a deficient water of Nile during this reign, and 
all the inhabitants of Egypt became faint-hearted 
at this event for fear, memory made them think 
of the dearth which once did occur in the time 
of the former kings, in consequence of the de- 
ficiency of the Nile to the inhabitants of Egypt 
in their time. His majesty and his sister and 
wife had cared in their hearts, which glowed 
for the inhabitants of the temples and the na- 
tives of Egypt in its entire extent, who were 
very much distressed and bent down. They 
remitted considerable taxes in order to save 
men's lives, and took care for importations of 
corn into Egypt from the Eastern Rutennu 
(Syria), from the land Kafatha (Phoenicia), from 
the island Nabinaitt (Cyprus), which lies in the 

midst of the great sea, and from many other 

173 



174 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



lands, since they expended much white gold for 
the purchase thereof. They transported the im- 
portation of provisions, to save those living in 
the land of Egypt, that these might know their 
goodness for ever, and their many virtuous 
turns whereby both those who are living and 
their posterity, and for which the gods grant 




EGYPTIAN GRANARY. 



them maintenance of their dignities and rule 
over Upper and Lower Egypt in reward thereof, 
and their reward of goods of all kinds for ever, 
with blessing and weal." (Birch, Records of 
the Past, Vol. VIII, pp. 84, 85.) 

An older inscription — that of Ameni-Amen- 
emha, of the twelfth dynasty — mentions a super- 
intendent of public granaries who was appointed 
to meet the emergency of a famine. Its clear 
reference is as follows : 



FAMINES IN EGYPT. 175 

"No little child have I injured; no widow 
have I oppressed; no fisherman have I injured; 
no shepherd have I detained ; no foreman of five 
men have I taken from his gang for the labor. 
There was no poverty in my days, no starvation 
in my time, when there were years of famine. 
I plowed all the fields of Mah to its southern 
and northern frontiers. I gave life to its inhab- 
itants, making its food. No one was starved in 
it. I gave to the widow as to the married wo- 
man. I made no difference between the great 
and little in all that I did. When the Nile 
made great waters, all types, all cultivation, 
all things, I did not take out of the field." 
(Birch, Records of the Past, Vol. XII, pp. 
63, 64.) 

Superintendents of granaries were regularly 
appointed, that there might be constant prepara- 
tion for preserving the lives of the people in case 
the gods sent upon the land a famine. The 
cause of famines was a deficiency in the over- 
flow of the Nile. 

Speaking of this divine stream, the scribe of 
the Great Mendes Stele, says : 

" If there was a deficiency in its products for 
a long time, sorrow prevailed amongst the people ; 
if there was plenty of provision, joy prevailed 
amongst them ; for the entire wealth of the soil 



176 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

rests on the inundation of the Nile." (Brugsch- 
Bey, Records of the Past, Vol. VIII, p. 99.) 

On the tomb of an Egyptian, Baba, by name, 
near El-Kab, there is an epitaph relating his 
good deeds, in which occurs this passage : 
"When a famine broke out for many years, I 
gave corn to the city during each successive 
year of the famine." 

Of this the translator Brugsch says: 

"No doubt the last part of the inscription 
which we have preferred to reproduce textually, 
because of its capital importance, makes refer- 
ence to an historical event in the form of a fam- 
ine that prevailed during many years in Egypt. 
As such a calamity occurs very rarely, indeed, 
as history knows but of one example, the seven 
years' famine in the time of Joseph, the curious 
and important fact results that the numerous 
years of famine which happened in Egypt while 
Baba was alive, directly belong to the same 
event as is related in Holy Scriptures, when it 
speaks of the seven years' famine which took 
place in Egypt, and in other parts of the world 
also." 

There is but one other mention of seven 
years of famine during six thousand years of 
Egyptian history. Mr. Stewart Poole says : 
"No other such famine is recorded in later 



THE GOD-APPOINTED GUARD. 177 

Egyptian annals until that of Fatimee Khalee- 
feh, El-Mustanstir billah, remarkable as having 
lasted seven years (A. D. 1064-1071), like that 
of Joseph. Great famines in Egypt are ex- 
tremely rare, -because they require a succession 
of very low inundations. Such failures of the 
river seldom happen singly, and a sequence of 
seven is most extraordinary." (Contemporary 
Review for 1879, Vol. XXXIV, pp. 751, 752.) 
Knowing from monumental writings that Baba 
and Joseph must have been at least nearly con- 
temporaries, and recognizing how exceedingly 
rare it was to suffer from a famine of many 
years' duration, we can hardly conclude other- 
wise than that the famine of many years of 
Baba was the famine of seven years of Joseph. 

There is a famine mentioned as having oc- 
curred as early as the reign of Uenephris, the 
fourth king of the first dynasty. 

Amenemha III, of the twelfth dynasty, under- 
took and accomplished a work of immense mag- 
nitude and importance — the construction of the 
extraordinary artificial lake of Moeris in the 
Fayoum — to control the overflow of the waters 
of the Nile, so as to guard against both flood and 
famine. Inscriptions marking the rise of the 
Nile, and allusions to the great work of the 
Fayoum, have preserved to us the proof of this 



178 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

undertaking, which is so vast as to stagger ordi- 
nary kingly ambition. The experience or the 
memory of some great famine must have pro- 
claimed the necessity of this system of dykes, 
canals, locks, reservoirs, and lake, to command 
the obedience and service of •the waters of this 
holy stream. 



XV. 



\Mvl1\f ml\vl}\f \m*Xl&+ 



179 



XV. 



I^HOTMES III, the greatest Egyptian con- 
queror, was also a great builder. The 
special object of his care was the great temple 
of Amnion, at Thebes, which he repaired, en- 
larged, and beautified. He erected the inclosure 
of the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, and the 
obelisks known as " Cleopatra's Needles," which 
Augustus transferred to Alexandria, and which 
stand, at the present time, one on the Thames 
embankment in London, and the other in Cen- 
tral Park, New York. He also erected temples 
at Thebes, Medinet-Abou, Elephantine, Ombos, 
Esneh, Abydos, Coptos, Denderah, Eileithyia, 
Hermonthis, Memphis, Amada, Corte, Talmis, 
Pselcis, Semneh, and Koummeh. He "left more 
monuments than any other Pharaoh, excepting 
Rameses II." 

These great constructions were probably the 
product, at least in part, of enforced labor. The 
eleven thousand captives brought to Egypt from 
his Asiatic campaigns, as we learn from the monu- 
ments, were probably employed on these works. 

181 



182 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



For dwelling-houses, tombs, sacred inclosures ol 
temples, some of the smaller temples, walls of 




towns, and fortresses, crude sun-dried bricks 
were used. Among the monuments of the great 



" WORK, WORK, WORK:' 



183 




BRICK-MAKING IN EGYPT. 



monarch is found a representation of this en- 
forced labor imposed upon foreign bondsmen. 
Some of the work- 
men are seen cut- 
ting up the clay, 
others kneading 
it, some carrying 
it, others bringing 
water, some mold- 
ing the bricks, and 
others carrying 
them by means of yokes placed across the shoul- 
ders, while still others build them up into walls. 
Taskmasters, armed with sticks, drive them on 
to greater exertion, saying, "The stick is in 
my hand. Be not idle." Over this representa- 
tion an inscription 
reads : " Here are 
to be seen the 
prisoners, which 
have been carried 
away as living 
captives in very 
• great numbers ; 
they work at the 
building with active fingers ; their overseers are 
in sight; they insist with vehemence (on the 
others laboring), obeying the orders of the great 




AN EGYPTIAN BRICK-FIELD. 



184 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 




skilled lord (t. e., the head-architect), who pre- 
scribes to them the works, and gives directions 



" WORK, WORK, WORK." 



185 




to the masters ; 
they are rewarded 
with wine and all 
kinds of good 
dishes ; they per- 
form this service 
with a mind full 
of love for the 
king; they build 
for Thothmes 



Holies 




BUST OF THOTHMES Til 

Ra-men-khepr, a Holy of 
for the gods. May it be 
rewarded to him through 
a range of many years." 
(Rawlinson, Herodotus, 
Vol. II, p. 183; History 
of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 
II, p. 250.) 

Rosellini, Hen- 
stenberg, Kurtz, 
Kalish, Palmer, and 
others have taken this as an actual represen- 
tation of the Israelites themselves working under 

16 



COLOSSAL FIGURE OF RAMESES II. 



186 



WITNESSES FROM TEE BUST. 



taskmasters. Most Egyptologers, however, do 
not agree with this interpretation of the scene, but 
unite in giving to the laborers, who are captives 
taken in war, Semitic features, though some think 
they are not of a decided Jewish type. The 
representation with the accompanying inscription 
exhibits in a graphic manner just the kind of 




COLOSSAL STATUE OF RAMESES AT MEMPHIS. 

service in which the Hebrews were engaged and 
the treatment to which they were subjected, and 
is, therefore, of great importance. 

Rameses II, the father of the Pharaoh of the 
Exodus, was, if possible, a greater builder. He 
constructed a canal from the Nile to the Red 
Sea, and a great wall commenced by his father 
Seti, extending from Pelusium to Heliopolis, a 
distance of ninety miles, strengthened at inter- 



"WORK, WORK, WORK." 187 

vals by fortresses, thought by some to be the 
"treasure cities," the work of the oppressed 
Israelites ; he also built numerous cities, tem- 
ples, obelisks, and statues, and his own tomb. 
Among his cities were Pa-Ramesu and Pa-tum, 
probably the Rameses and Pithom of Exodus. 
The rock temple of Ipsambul is pronounced 
"the most magnificent specimen of its class 
which the world contains." The works, espe- 
cially of this period, were "unsurpassed by any 
thing the world has seen during the thirty cen- 
turies of struggle and aspiration that have 
elapsed since the brilliant days of the great 
kingdom of the Pharaohs." (Rawlinson, History 
of Ancient Egypt, Vol. II, pp. 328, 354.) 

He could well pray, " What art thou, my fa- 
ther Ammon ? What father denies his son ? for 
have I done aught without thee? Have I not 
stept or staid: looking to thee, not transgressing 
the decisions of thy mouth, nor passing far astray 
beyond thy counsels? Sovran Lord of Egypt, 
who makest bow down the peoples that with- 
stand thee, what are these Amu to thy heart? 
Ammon brings low them who know not God. 
Have I not made thee monuments very many, 
filled thy temple with my spoils, built thee 
houses for millions of years, given treasures to 
thy house, dedicated to thee all lands, enriched 



188 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 




thy sacrifices ? I have slain to thee thirty 
thousand bulls, with all wood of sweet scent, 



"WORK, WORK, WORK." 189 

good incense coming from my hand. The mak- 
ing of thy court completed, I have built thee 
great towers of stone above thy gate, groves 
everlasting. I brought thee obelisks from Ele- 
phantine; 'tis I who had eternal stones carried, 
guiding for thee galleys on the sea, conveying 
to thee labors of all lands. When was it said 
such happened in other time?" (Lushington, 
Records of the Past, Vol. II, pp. 69, 70.) 

"It is almost impossible," says the learned 
historian, "to find in Egypt a ruin or an an- 
cient mound without reading his name." (Le- 
normant, Ancient History of the East, Vol. I, 
p. 243.) 

To provide himself laborers for his many 
vast works, "man-hunts were organized upon a 
monstrous scale," and captives were enslaved — 
"swart negroes from the Soudan, Ethiopians of 
equal blackness but of a higher type, blue-eyed, 
fair-haired Marmaridae, light red, beardless Khita, 
lithe Arabs, heavily framed Ruten with black 
beards and features of a Jewish cast, Kharu, 
Leka, Nahiri, Maxyes — carried off from their 
homes by the grasping conqueror." (Rawlinson, 
History of Egypt, Vol. II, pp. 322, 323.) Sub- 
ject races of foreign blood were also bent to the 
heavy yoke of bondage — Sharuten or Shardana, 
and Apuiriu or Aperu, identified by many schol- 



190 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

ars with the Hebrews. The captive and subject 
races formed a full third of the population. 

Amenemun, chief librarian of Rameses, in a 
letter to his pupil and friend, the poet Pentaour, 
reveals the condition of the agricultural people : 

" Have you ever conceived what sort of a 
life the peasant leads who cultivates the soil? 
Even before it is ripe, insects destroy part of 
the harvest. . . . Multitudes of rats are in 
the fields ; next come invasions of locusts ; cat- 
tle ravage his harvest ; sparrows alight in flocks 
on his sheaves. If he fails to get in his harvest, 
robbers come to carry it off from him ; his horse 
dies of fatigue in drawing the plow ; the tax 
collector arrives in the district, and has with 
him men armed with sticks, negroes with palm 
branches. All say, 'Give us of your corn;' and 
he has no means of escaping their exactions. 
Next, the unfortunate wretch is seized, bound, 
and carried by force to work on the canals ; his 
wife is bound, his children are stripped." (Lenor- 
mant, Ancient History of the East, Vol. I, p. 258.) 

The following we take from an inscription of 
the period : 

"It is very hard to make the smooth road 
on which the colossus is to slide along, but how 
unspeakably harder to drag the huge mass like 
beasts of burden. The arms of the workman 



"WORK, WORK, WORK. u 191 

are utterly worn out. His food is a mixture of 
all things vile ; he can wash himself only once 
in a season. But that which above all is 
wretched is when he has to drag for a month 
together, over the soft, yielding soil of the gar- 
dens of the mansion, a huge block of ten cubits 
by six." 

This enforced labor, hard fare, and cruel op- 
pression must have crushed the very souls of 
the unfortunate and helpless people. The pic- 
ture which Ebers gives is no more favorable : 

" Under the wide-spreading sycamore," says 
he, " a vender of eatables, spirituous drinks, and 
acids for cooling the water, had set up his stall, 
and close to him a crowd of boatmen and driv- 
ers shouted and disputed as they passed the 
time in eager games of morra. Many sailors 
lay on the decks of the vessels, others on the 
shore ; here in the thin shade of a palm-tree, 
there in the full blaze of the sun, from whose 
burning rays they protected themselves by 
spreading over their faces the cotton cloths 
which served them for cloaks. Between the 
sleepers passed bondmen and slaves, brown and 
black, in long files, one behind the other, bend- 
ing under the weight of heavy burdens, which 
had to be conveyed to their destination at the 
temples for sacrifice, or to the dealers in various 



192 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

wares. Builders dragged blocks of stone, which 
had come from the quarries of Chermu and Suan, 
on sledges, to the site of a new temple ; labor- 
ers poured water under the runners, that the 
heavily loaded and dried wood should not take 
fire. All these workingmen were driven with 
sticks by their overseers and sang at their la- 
bor; but the voices of the leaders sounded 
muffled and hoarse, though when, after their 
frugal meal, they enjoyed an hour of repose, 
they might be heard loud enough. Their 
parched throats refused to sing in the noontide 
of their labor. Thick clouds of gnats followed 
these tormented gangs, who, with dull and spirit- 
broken endurance, suffered alike the stings of 
the insects and the blows of their driver." 
(Ebers, Uarda, Vol. I, p. 61.) This is a picture 
true to the life. 

But the oppressed Hebrews had other work 
besides building palaces and temples, obelisks 
and tombs — something besides digging canals 
and working in the brick-fields. From the ear- 
liest kings extensive mining operations were car- 
ried on east of the Nile and in the peninsula of 
Sinai. The turquoise, around which still clus- 
ter many superstitions among the Arabs, yellow 
gold and precious copper, besides stones from 
the quarries, yielded to the labors of many thou- 



"WORK, WORK, WORK" 193 

sands of slaves, prisoners of war, and criminals, 
who, under hard taskmasters, toiled their lives 
away. Ebers, true to the revelations of mon- 
umental literature and art, has produced a 
wonderful reconstruction of old Egyptian life. 
Agatharcides, as quoted by Diodorus Siculus, 
presents a vivid picture of the condition of 
those who, condemned to the horrid fate, worked 
in the mines : 

" The kings of Egypt send to the gold mines 
condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and per- 
sons convicted on false accusation, or banished 
in the heat of passion. By this means they 
procure the labor necessary to obtain the great 
treasures these mines yield, the punishment be- 
ing often extended not only to the offender but 
to all related to him. The number of the con- 
victs is very great, and they are all chained by 
foot-irons, and have to work continually, with- 
out an interval for rest. Not only is there no 
break of work for them by day, the very night 
brings them none ; and, withal, every chance of 
escape is cut off from them, for foreign soldiers, 
whose language they do not understand, are set 
over them, so that no one can move his guard by 
friendly words or entreaties. Where the gold- 
bearing soil is hardest, huge fires are kindled to 
loosen the ground before the miners begin to 

17 



194 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

dig ; but as soon as the rock is burnt enough to 
require less violent labor, many thousands of the 
unfortunates are set to break it up with quarry 
tools. The oversight of the whole work is 
under the charge of a skillful officer, who knows 
the difference between rich and poor stone, and 
directs the toilers accordingly. The strongest 
drive shafts into the rocks — not in a straight 
line, but as the glittering metal may lead — and 
these shafts wind and turn so that the hewers 
have to work with a lamp on their forehead, 
else they would be in total darkness. They 
have, moreover, constantly to change their posi- 
tion as the rock demands, till finally they get 
the pieces broken off and thrown down on the 
floor of the galleries. Meanwhile the overseers 
keep them up to this heavy task by roughness 
and blows. 

" The boys, who have not yet come to their 
strength, have to go into the shafts in the rocks, 
and painfully raise and drag out to the open day 
the pieces of stone broken off by the miners. 
From these lads men, who must be over thirty 
years of age, receive each a fixed quantity of 
this quarried metal, and have to pound it in 
stone troughs, with iron pestles, till it is no 
larger than a pea. The wives and the old men 
then take these fragments and pour them into 



"WORK, WORK, WORK" 195 

mills, of which a number stand in a row, and 
these are driven by two or three persons, by a 
winch, till the whole is ground as fine as flour. 
One can not look at these wretched creatures, 
who not only are not able to keep themselves 
clean, but are too ragged even to hide their na- 
kedness, without lamenting their fate; for there 
is no care or pity for the sick, the injured, the 
gray-headed, or for the weakness of women. 
All, driven by blows, must work on till death 
comes to end their sufferings and their sorrows. 
In the bitterness of their agony, the condemned 
anticipate the future as even more horrible than 
the present, and wait eagerly for death, which 
is more fondly desired than life. The discovery 
of these mines dates from the earliest times. 
They must have been begun already under the 
old kings." 

In the Anastasi Papyrus we have a letter of 
Panbesa, describing, in poetic strain, one of the 
treasure cities of Egypt. Some of the words 
have not been interpreted, and the meaning is 
obscure : 

" So I arrived in the city of Ramses-Miamun, 
and I have found it excellent ; for nothing can 
compare with it on the Theban land and soil. 
[Here is the seat] of the court. It is pleasant 
to live in. Its fields are full of good things, 



196 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

and life passes in constant plenty and abun- 
dance. Its canals are rich in fish, its lakes 
swarm with birds, its meadows are green with 
vegetables, there is no end of the lentils; mel- 
ons with a taste like honey grow in the irrigated 
fields. Its barns are full of wheat and durra, 
and reach as high as heaven. Onions and se- 
same are in the inclosures, and the apple-tree 
blooms (?). The vine, the almond-tree, and the 
fig-tree grow in the gardens. Sweet is their 
wine for the inhabitants of Kemi. They mix it 
with honey. The redfish is in the lotus-canal, 
the Borianfish in the ponds ; many kinds of Bori- 
fish, besides carp and pike, in the canal of Pu- 
harotha; fat fish and Khiptipennu fish are in the 
pools of the inundation; the Hauaz fish in the 
full mouth of the Nile, near the ' city of the con- 
queror' (Tanis). 

" The city canal Pshenhor produces salt ; the 
lake region of Pahir, natron. Their seaships 
enter the harbor; plenty and abundance are per- 
petually in it. He rejoices who has settled there. 
My information is no jest. The common people 
as well as the higher classes say, 'Come hither. 
Let us celebrate to him his heavenly and his 
earthly feasts.' The inhabitants of the reedy 
lake (Thufi) arrived with lilies ; those of Pshen- 
hor, with papyrus flowers. Fruits from the nur- 



"WORK, WORK, WORK." 197 

series, flowers from the gardens, birds from the 
ponds, were dedicated to him. Those who dwell 
near the sea came with fish, and the inhabitants 
of their lakes honored him. The youths of the 
' conqueror's city ' were perpetually clad in fes- 
tive attire. Fine oil was on their heads of fresh 
curled hair. They stood at their doors, their 
hands laden with branches and flowers from Pa- 
hathor, and with garlands from Pahir, on the day 
of the entry of King Ramessu-Miamun, the god 
of war Monthu, upon earth, in the early morn- 
ing of the monthly feast of Kihith (that is, on 
the first of Khoiak). All people were assem- 
bled, neighbor with neighbor, to bring forward 
their complaints. 

"Delicious was the wine for the inhabitants 
of the ' conqueror's city/ Their cider was 
like . . . , their sherbets were like almonds 
mixed with honey. There was beer from Kati 
(Galilee) in the harbor, wine in the gardens, fine 
oil at the lake Sagabi, garlands in the apple 
orchards. The sweet song of women resounded 
to the tunes of Memphis. So, they sat there 
with joyful heart, or walked about without ceas- 
ing. King Ramessu-Miamun, he was the god 
they celebrated." (Brugsch, Egypt under the 
Pharaohs, Vol. II, pp. 100-102 ; Goodwin, Rec- 
ords of the past, Vol. VI, pp. 13-16.) 



198 WITNESSES PROM THE DUST. 

Such is the contrast, drawn from native 
sources, between the oppression of the people 
and the glory of the king and his court in his 
royal cities. 

It is an interesting fact that the Papyrus of 
Bek-en-amen contains a letter sent from Raineses, 
inquiring concerning a certain runaway slave, 
and stating the steps which have been taken for 
his recovery. This rare letter was written in 
the reign of Mineptah, son of Rameses II, at 
about the time of the Exodus. It shows, also, 
that certain legal formalities were necessary to 
the recovery of lost human chattels. This legal 
formality increases our respect for the system 
of slavery as practiced in Egypt. The scribe 
writes concerning the subject-matter in hand as 
follows : 

" I feel that I require thy help to consult 
Ra and Pta. May they grant their advice to 
thee. Now, as I am unable to say how my boy 
acted when sent to thee, I will, therefore, send 
him to Sechempheti, to take with him a letter to 
thee. I wish, also, to hear what thou hast de- 
cided — whether thou leavest quickly, and art 
obliged to go away at the time my message ar- 
rives. As I am making legal inquiries about 
the Syrian of Perhetuti, send me all thou know- 
est about him. I heard that he had been em- 



"WORK, WORK, WORK: 1 199 

ployed as a workman, under thy direction, at 
Perhetuti, in the third year and the tenth day of 
the month Payni, with the laborers of the con- 
ductors of the transport boat. I sent for the 
chief of the police, in order to learn from him 
his name. He is called Naqarii, and is from Sal- 
raz. His mother came from Qeti, of the country 
of Aratu. He is the slave employed on the 
transport boats of this country, on the boat of 
the captain Kanuro. His keepers told Chsemap, 
the chief of the officers of the troops of the reg- 
iment of Pharaoh, the powerful — may he live 
forever ! — to take him and have him given up. I 
also myself went to Chsemap, the chief of the 
officers of the troops of the regiment of Pha- 
raoh — may he live forever! — but he turned a 
deaf ear to me, and said : Speak to the governor 
Merisechet, so that he cause him to be given 
up. I went then myself to the governor Meris- 
echet ; but he also turnedr to me a deaf ear, with 
his clerks, and said : It is not our business. 
I went then to see the chief boatman of Se- 
sennu, and said to him, Can the Syrian work- 
man of Perhetuti be given back ? Take him, 
and let him be returned to his prophet. I will 
settle the matter with him before the great tri- 
bunal. I have also heard the news thou hast 
sent to me about the slave of Tehuti. He did 



200 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

not bring it to me, having run away ; but I will 
have him followed. Now, as thou takest inter- 
est in him, it would be well to have him brought 
to me." (Giovanni Kminek-Szedlo, Transac- 
tions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 
Vol. VII, pp. 421, 422.) 

The following account, which we take from 
Brugsch, contains identifications of places to suit 
his theory of the Exodus : 

" I set out," he says, " from the hall of the 
royal palace, on the ninth day of the month 
Epiphi, in the evening, after the two servants. 
I arrived at the fortress of Thuku (Sukoth) on 
the tenth of Epiphi. I was informed that the 
men had resolved to take their way toward the 
south. On the twelfth I reached Khetam 
(Etham). There I was informed that grooms, 
who had come from the neighborhood [of the 
' sedge city,' had reported] that the fugitives 
had already passed the rampart (i. e., the Shur 
of the Bible, Gerrhon of the Greeks) to the 
north of the Migdol of King Seti Mineptah." 
(Brugsch, Egypt under the Pharaohs, Vol. II, 
p. 138.) 

A remarkable confirmation has just reached 
us from the East. Some large mounds, near 
Tel-el-KebTr, are known by the name of Tel-el- 
Maskhuta; and M. Naville, of the Egyptian Ex- 



"WORK, WORK, WORK:' 201 

ploration Fund, has excavated these venerable 
piles. Inscriptions have been unearthed which 
prove this to have been an ancient city whose 
religious name was Pithom — Pa-tum, " the city 
of the setting sun" — while its civil name was 
Suecoth, and that its founder was Rameses II. 

In Greek times, this venerable city, which 
has but just stepped out of its grave, was 
called Heroopolis, or Ero. The latter word is 
from the Egyptian ara, " a storehouse," remind- 
ing us of the " treasure cities " built for the 
Pharaoh. (Exodus i, 11.) M. Naville has dis- 
covered the treasure chambers themselves, occu- 
pying almost the whole area of the city. Their 
walls are six hundred and fifty feet square and 
twenty-two feet thick. They are strongly con- 
structed, and divided by brick partitions. The 
bricks are sun-baked, and some are without straw, 
representing the w T ork of the oppressed people 
when the order came to them, " Thus saith the 
Pharaoh, I will not give you straw." (Sayce, 
Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments, pp. 
71, 72. Naville's "Pithom" has just been 
issued.) 

In a papyrus of the nineteenth dynasty, the 
writer complains, " I have no one to help me in 
making bricks, no straw." The expression had 
evidently become proverbial at that time. 



202 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

M. Chabas has translated another papyrus, 
in which twelve laborers, employed in the same 
district where the Israelites toiled, were pun- 
ished for failing to make their daily tale of 
bricks. (Speaker's Commentary, Vol. I, Part I, 
pp. 270, 271.) . 

" Ye are idle," said Pharaoh ; and according 
to the funeral ritual, idleness was a sin which 
brought condemnation in the final judgment. 
" Ye have made savor to be abhorred (margin, 
to stink) in the eyes of Pharaoh," said the Is- 
raelites to Moses and Aaron. " Thou hast made 
my name offensive, stinking, to all men," com- 
plains an Egyptian of rank to his historian. 
The expression was proverbial. Other pro- 
verbial sayings were, " The child grows up, and 
his bones are broken like the bones of an ass ;" 
" The back of a lad is made that he may hearken 
to him that beats it." (Speaker's Commentary, 
Vol. I, Part I, p. 256 and elsewhere.) 

The reigning Pharaoh was recognized as the 
representative of the supreme, and was wor- 
shiped as very God. The following hymn is 
addressed to Pharaoh : 

" 'Long live the king!' 
This comes to inform the king 
To the Royal Hall of the lover of truth, 
The great heaven wherein the Sun is. 



"WORK, WORK, WORK" 



203 



(Give) thy attention to me, thou Sun that risest 
To enlighten the earth with this (his) goodness: 
The solar orb of men, chasing the darkness from Egypt. 
Thou art, as it were, the image of thy father, the Sun, 
Who rises in heaven. Thy beams penetrate the cavern. 




HEAD OF MINEPTAH. 

No place is without thy goodness. 

Thy sayings are the law of every land. 

When thou reposest in thy palace, 

Thou hearest the words of all the lands. 

Thou hast millions of ears. 

Bright is thy eye above the stars of heaven, 

Able to gaze at the solar orb. 

If any thing be spoken by the mouth in the cavern, 



204 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

It ascends into thy ears. 

Whatsoever is done in secret, thy eye seeth it, 

0, Baenra Meriamen, merciful Lord, creator of breath." 

This is addressed to Mineptah, generally be- 
lieved to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus. (Good- 
win, Records of the Past, Vol. VI, pp. 101, 102.) 

Rameses II assumed the character of a ver- 
itable god, and set up his own image to be wor- 
shiped as an equal of the greatest gods — Am- 
nion, Ptah, and Horus. His deification was most 
complete. The development of the doctrine of 
the divinity of kings, which had been of long 
growth, now reached its culmination. 

In the pride and arrogance of these blas- 
phemous assumptions of a divine character, now 
at its highest, no limit could be set to tyrannical 
power. When we consider what must have been, 
under such teaching, the Israelitish idea of a 
king, we are able to understand the importance 
of the command of God that his people choose 
not such a ruler. To turn to a king would be to 
turn away from God. 

Such are some glimpses which we catch of 
what must have been the oppression of the He- 
brews. Egypt unwittingly testifies to the truth- 
fulness of the writings of Moses. 






XVI. 



\§m$ l|rngmsnl$+ 



205 



XVI. 

THERE are many incidental confirmations, 
powerful because of this very character, 
which, admitting of no classification, may be 
thrown together in one group. 

When Abraham, as a refuge from a severe 
famine, went down into Egypt he found the king 
of the country bearing a title which, to his ears, 
sounded " Pha-ra-oh." It is now shown, by most 
eminent Egyptologers, that "the regular title of 
Egyptian kings " was Peraa or Perao, " the great 
house." The etymology of the word singularly 
corresponds with the statement of Horapollo that 
the king was called " the great house ;" and we 
may compare this title with one of the titles of 
the Grand Sultan of Turkey, " Sublime Porte.'* 

The Pharaoh in the time of Joseph had a 
body guard and " captain of the guard " (Gren. 
xxxvii, 36), and this guard is constantly seen 
on the Egyptian sculptures in close attendance 
upon the king. When he rides in his chariot, 
his subjects bow down on their knees before him, 
and they do the same before Joseph, his chief 

207 



208 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 




EGYPTIAN WAR CHARIOT. 



minister. "And Pharaoh took off his ring from 
his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and ar- 
rayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a 

gold chain about 
his neck; and he 
made him to ride 
in the second 
chariot which he 
had ; and they 
cried before him, 
Bow the knee ; 
and he made him 
ruler over all the 
land of Egypt." (Gen. xli, 42, 43.) These 
prostrations are frequently found in the sculp- 
tures. There is in Egyptian art the same scene 
of investing a favorite with a gold chain. The 
signet ring was also in use. 

Another curious confirmation is at hand. 
"Every shepherd is an abomination unto the 
Egyptians." (Genesis xlvi, 34.) This contempt 
finds abundant expression on the monuments 
where herdsmen are uniformly represented by 
the artists as filthy and unkempt, and sometimes 
as deformed and unseemly, an offense to the eyes 
of the Egyptians. The liberty which popular 
sentiment allowed to women which sometimes 
degenerated into licentiousness, as shown in 



CHOICE FRAGMENTS. 



209 



the acts of the wife of Potiphar, and in the 
"Tale of the Two Brothers" preserved in the 
Papyrus d'Orbiney, already presented — this lib- 
erty is represented in Egyptian art. The chief 
baker relates his dream to Joseph, "I also was 
in my dream, and, 
behold, I had three 
white baskets on my 
head." (Genesis xl, 
16.) This practice of 
carrying burdens on 
the head is repre- 
sented on the monu- 
ments. The practice 
of sitting at meals, un- 
like the CUStom Of Scribes Writing the Aeeount of the 
11 i • i -1,1 Steward. 

the patriarchs and the 

Orientals, is in complete accord with the abun- 
dant representations of banquets found in the 
tombs. On the monuments we may also see 
stewards and granaries, the purchase and sale 
of slaves, and the employment of horses and 
chariots. 

Rawlinson says, in speaking of Egyptian cus- 
toms as revealed in Genesis : " It may be broadly 
stated that in this entire description there is not 
a single feature which is out of harmony with 
what we know of the Egypt of this remote period 

18 




210 WITNESSES FROM THE DEAD. 

from other sources. Nay, more, almost every 
point in. it is confirmed either by the classical 
writers, by the monuments, or by both." (Raw- 
linson, Historical Illustrations of the Old Testa- 
ment, pp. 43, 44.) 

The chief butler, in relating his dream, says : 
"I took the grapes and pressed them into Pha- 
raoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's 
hand." (Genesis xl, 11.) The enemies of the 
Bible have sided with Herodotus, usually accu- 
rate in matters which came under his own per- 
sonal observation, in denying that the vine was 
cultivated in Egypt. This opinion must now be 
abandoned, since not only the cultivation of the 
vine, but also the art of pressing the grape, the 
fermentation of the juice, and the custom of 
drinking wine are represented on the monuments. 
The exact scene, also, pictured in the chief but- 
ler's dream is not wanting. Dr. Ebers has dis- 
covered on the walls of the temple of Edfu the 
picture of the king of Egypt with a cup in his 
hand. Underneath is the interesting inscrip- 
tion, " They press grapes into the water, and the 
king drinks." 

Going back some years, Jacob made Joseph 
" a coat of many colors." " In the well-known 
scene from the tomb of Chnoumhotep at Beni 
Hassan, a tomb of the twelfth dynasty, the Se- 



CHOICE FRAGMENTS. 



211 



mi tic visitors who are offering presents to the 
governor are dressed in robes of rich coloring, 
apparently formed of separate small pieces or 
patches sewn together." (Speaker's Commen- 
tary, Vol. I, P. I, p. 194.) 

A multitude of confirmations belong to the 
time of the Exodus. The monuments show that 




TREADING THE WINE-PRESS. 

the chariot was the most important arm in the 
military service, and that the king went out to 
battle in person. (Exodus xiv, 6-8.) There is 
depicted the cultivation of wheat, barley, flax, 
and rye, or spelt (Exodus ix, 32) ; and fish, cu- 
cumbers, onions, and garlic are easily recognized. 
(Numbers xi, 5.) The monuments represent the 
catching, salting, and eating of fish. We see 
also cattle, both in the fields and in stalls or 
sheds. (Exodus ix, 3, 19.) Among the extant 
remains are various articles of gold and sil- 



212 



WITNESSES FROM THE BUST. 



ver — vases, goblets, necklaces, armlets, brace- 
lets, earrings, and finger-rings. (Exodus xii, 
35.) There are also furnaces, ovens, kneading- 
troughs, walking-sticks, and hand-mills. (Exo- 
dus ix, 8 ; viii, 3 ; vii, 10, 12 ; xi, 5.) The stor- 




A PHARAOH IN HIS CHARIOT. 



ing of water in vessels of wood and stone (Exo- 
dus vii, 19), and the construction of boats out 
of papyrus (Exodus ii, 3), are traceable, while 
bitumen and pitch were in use. 

While Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his 
father-in-law, he came to " the mountain of God, 
even to Horeb." The whole peninsula of Sinai, 
from a very early period, was regarded by 



CHOICE FRAGMENTS. 213 

the Egyptians as specially consecrated to the 
gods. An inscription of the twenty-fifth year 
of Thotmes III, found at Sarbut el Chadem, 
speaks of an officer sent to bring copper from 
the land of the gods. The angel of the Lord 
appeared unto Moses "in a flame of fire out of 
the midst of a bush." This "bush" was the 
seneh, the thorny acacia, according to Brugsch. 
The Coptic is sheno. The name of this thorn is 
found in papyri of the nineteenth dynasty, and 
in inscriptions quoted by Brugsch. Seneh should 
probably be retained as its proper name. 

The miracles wrought at the word of Moses 
for the deliverance of Israel were of special sig- 
nificance. The Egyptians were acquainted with 
all these plagues, but now they came with special 
intensity and malignity. The rod of Moses was 
changed into a serpent, but it was no ordinary 
serpent. It was probably the basilisk or Urseus, 
the poisonous cobra before which Moses fled. 
This was the symbol of royal and divine power, 
and is represented on the diadem of every Pha- 
raoh. It is always represented with its neck 
enormously swollen, as if ready to attack. This 
miracle was a pledge of victory over the king 
and the gods of Egypt. (Exod. iv, 3, 4.) Again 
we read : " When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, 
saying, Shew a miracle for you; then thou shalt 



214 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before 
Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent." (Exod. 
vii, 9.) This was another serpent, represented 
by another word, " Tannin," found in the 
Egyptian ritual as " Tanem." It was " a syno- 
nym of the monster serpent which represents 
the principle of antagonism to light and life." 
This gives these miracles special significance. 
As an encouragement to Moses and as a warn- 
ing to Pharaoh, the two serpents were well 
chosen. 

The Nile was worshiped under various 
names, and the king may have gone to the sa- 
cred stream to offer his devotions, when Moses 
met him, and " smote the waters that were in the 
river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight 
of his servants," and the waters were turned to 
blood. The plague of the frogs followed. This 
was also a blow directed against Egyptian super- 
stitions. A goddess, with a frog's head, named 
Heka, was worshiped in the district of Beni 
Hassan as the wife of Chnum, the god of the 
cataract or of the inundations. Mariette gives 
a curious vignette, which represents Seti, the 
father of Rameses II, offering two vases of wine 
to a frog. This deity is enshrined in a small 
chapel, and is described as " The Sovereign Lady 
of both worlds." 



CHOICE FRAGMENTS. 215 

The third plague smites " the dust of the 
land." The earth was worshiped under the 
name Seb, and the black soil of the Nile, called 
Chemi, was sacred. The fourth plague struck 
the atmosphere. The air was personified in the 
deity Shu, the son of Ra, the sun god ; or, 
again, in Isis, queen of heaven. The " flies " 
were, perhaps, beetles. The beetle was the 
symbol of life, and of the creative and repro- 
ductive power. In the hieroglyphics it repre- 
sents the word "cheper." The sun-god bore the 
name " Chepera," and is represented in the form 
or with the head of a beetle. And so the other 
plagues attacked the gods of the Egyptians sym- 
bolized under various living and animal forms. 
This part of sacred history is just adapted to 
Egypt and to no other land. Her gods were 
humiliated, degraded, defeated, and slain. 

When the Israelites had crossed the Red 
Sea, and " triumphed gloriously," Moses and the 
children of Israel sang a song remarkable for 
simplicity and .grandeur, and archaic in style ; 
and in celebrating the destruction of the host 
of Pharaoh, he sings : " They sank into the bot- 
tom as a stone." (Exod. xv, 5.) "The war- 
riors on chariots are always represented on the 
monuments with heavy coats of mail. The 
corselets of i chosen captains ' consisted of plates 



216 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



of highly tempered bronze, with sleeves reaching 
nearly to the elbow, covering the whole body 
and the thighs nearly to the knee." (Speaker's 
Commentary, Vol. I, Part I, p. 311.) 

After this, "Miriam, the prophetess, the 
sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; 
and all the women went out after her with tim- 




"WITH TIMBRELS AND WITH DANCES." 

brels and with dances." (Exod. xv, 20.) There 
is a representation on the monuments of women 
dancing. Some bear boughs in their hands, 
while others play on timbrels. 

The position and importance assigned the 
Hittites according to Scripture is fully sustained 
by the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. 
They were a mighty nation, which long main- 
tained a successful warfare against enemies on 
the east and on the west. The Hittite Empire 



CHOICE FRAGMENTS. 217 

at one time extended from the Euphrates to the 
Grecian archipelago, and south to the tribes of 
the Shasu. Rameses II, the great king of 
Egypt, after a war of seventeen years, was glad 
to make a treaty with the Hittites on equal 
terms, and afterwards to seal the treaty by mar- 
rying the daughter of the great Hittite king. 
The mighty conquerors of Assyria found them a 
foe worthy of their respect. During the great- 
ness of the Hittite Empire it stood first, as far 
as we can know at present, in the world. They 
must have made considerable advancement in 
civilization. Their chariots were plated with 
silver and gold, and the list of the spoils of war 
brought from their country shows great wealth. 
They possessed a literature of which inscriptions 
at Carchemish, Hamath, Aleppo, and elsewhere 
are the only remains. The treaty with Rameses 
II, which has been preserved to us in an Egyp- 
tian translation, was their own composition, and 
written on a silver plate. 

We have given only a selection of those 
undesigned and sometimes minute coincidences 
and delicate touches whose value we can not 
well overestimate. 

19 



XVIT. 



\htk jtrte in Jhtyvln nth Ji^ftA* 



219 



XVII. 

MAGIC in all its forms — the worship of spir- 
its, divination, invocations, incantations, 
possessions and exorcisms, charms, magical texts, 
enchanted philters, magical words, and num- 
bers, and so on — is so frequently noticed in the 
Bible, and proved a snare so many times to the 
people of God, that it deserves fuller treatment 
than it can receive in these short papers. For 
its full discussion the reader is referred to the 
works of Lenormant, Sayce, Chabas, and others 
who have treated with commendable thorough- 
ness and judgment so interesting a theme. Here 
are brought before us the sacrifices of children 
unto devils, the abominations, the planetary 
worship, the awful mysteries, the wild supersti- 
tions, and the mad ravings as they " seek unto 
them that have familiar spirits, and unto wiz- 
ards that peep and that mutter" (Isaiah viii, 19) 
who consult books of dark meaning, mutter 
charms of irresistible potency, and perform actions 
of strange symbolism. Remnants of this super- 
stitious belief linger in Palestine to-day. W. 

221 



222 WITNESSES FROM DUST. 

M./Fhomson, D. D., speaks of "inhabited trees" 
as frequent. They are "supposed to be the 
abode of evil spirits ; and those bits of rag 
are suspended upon the branches to protect the 
wayfarer from their malign influence. There are 
many such trees in all parts of the country, and 
the superstitious inhabitants are afraid to sleep 
under them." (Thomson, The Land and the Book ; 
Central Palestine and Phoenicia, pp. 171, 172.) 

The same author returns to the subject : 
" We have sacred trees, and trees that are inhab- 
ited by jan, or evil spirits ; and we have single 
trees scattered over the land covered with bits 
of rags from the garments of passing villagers, 
hung up as acknowledgments, or as deprecatory 
offerings and charms ; and we find beautiful 
clumps of oak trees sacred to beings called Ja- 
cob's daughters. These are doubtless relics of 
most ancient superstitions ; and in the fact that 
the patriarchs and prophets lived, and prophe- 
sied, and were buried under such trees, we find, 
I imagine, the origin of those curious customs, and 
the prevailing belief and propitiatory efficacy." 
(Thomson, The Land and the Book ; Central Pal- 
estine and Phoenicia, p. 222.) 

Mr. Conder writes : " The peasantry have 
numerous superstitions : they believe in incanta- 
tions, in charms, in divination by sand and other 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 223 

means, and in the evil eye, their children being 
purposely left dirty, or even besmirched, to avoid 
the consequences of an envious look." 

He names the different kinds of spirits in 
which they believe, the sacred trees, and the sa- 
cred stones, and suggests that the Fellahin are 
descendants of the Phoenicians and other pre- 
Israelite populations. (Conder, Tent Work in 
Palestine, Vol. II, pp. 232, 233, 216, 217.) 

Such are the voices of the living monuments 
to which, though important, we can give but 
now and then a passing reference. Indeed, the 
land, the people, the productions, the archaeo- 
logical ruins, the language, and the literature 
combine to proclaim the truthfulness of the Bible. 

In the sixth tablet of the Izdubar series, 
Ishtar appears in the character of Hecate of the 
Greeks. The translations differ so widely, how- 
ever, that we can not be sure of our ground, and 
omit the account. (Talbot, Records of the Past, 
Vol. IX, pp. 125-128 ; cf. Smith, The Chaldsean 
Account of Genesis, pp. 229, 230.) 

In the twelfth Izdubar legend, the hero, as- 
sisted by a witch, raises the spirit of Heabani. 
by uttering lamentations and incantations over 
his dead body. (Boscawen, Records of the 
Past, Vol. IX, pp. 129, et seq.) 

Imprecatory charms abound in Babylonian 



224 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

literature. The charm was uttered in rude 
rhythmic poetry, while the enchanter in sym- 
bolic action,, followed the imprecation. An ex- 
ample will illustrate : 

" Like this thread he shall be stretched, and the sorcerer 

The consuming fire-god shall consume. 

Despite his adoration that is not; 

Despite the clothing of the god, the king unconquerable, 

May the man, (through) the enchantment, (with) eldest 
son (and) wife, 

(By) sickness, the loss of the bliss of prosperity, of joy, 
(and) of gladness, 

(By) the sickness which exists in a man's skin, a man's 
flesh, a man's entrails, 

Like this thread be stretched, and 

On that day the consuming fire-god consume. 

May the enchantment go forth, and to (its) dwelling- 
place betake itself." 

(Sayce, Kecords of the Past, Vol. Ill, p. 150.) 

Talismans, like the Jewish phylacteries, 
were powerful to avert demons : 

"Right and left of the threshold of the 
door, spread out holy texts and sentences. 
Place on the statues texts bound round them." 
" In the night-time bind round the sick man's 
head a sentence taken from a good book." (Tal- 
bot, Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, p. 142.) 

We present the song of the seven spirits: 

' * They are seven ! they are seven ! 
In the depths of ocean they are seven ! 
In the heights of heaven they are seven ! 






BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 225 

In the ocean stream, in a Palace, they were born. 
Male they are not, female they are not! 
Wives they have not! Children are not born to them! 
Prayers they hear not! 

Rule they have not! Government they know not! 
They are seven, and they are seven ! Twice over they 
are seven V 

(Talbot, Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, p. 143.) 

" Go, my son! 
Take a woman's linen kerchief, 
Bind it round thy right hand, 
Loose it from the left hand ! 
Knot it with seven knots ; do so twice. 
Sprinkle it with bright wine : 
Bind it round the head of the sick man ; 
Bind it round his hands and feet, like manacles and 

fetters. 
Sit down on his bed : 
Sprinkle holy water over him. 
He shall hear the voice of Hea ; 
Davkiua shall protect him ! 
And Marduk, eldest son of heaven, shall find him a 

happy habitation." 

(Talbot, Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, p. 141.) 

Thus they soothe the last moments of the 
dying. 

The following exorcisms, to dispossess man 
of noxious spirits, are translations made by Rev. 
A. H. Sayce from the Accadian originals, and 
are very ancient: 

" The noxious god, the noxious spirit of the 
neck, the neck-spirit of the desert, the neck- 



226 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

spirit of the mountains, the neck-spirit of the 
sea, the neck-spirit of the morass, the noxious 
cherub of the city, the noxious wind which 
seizes the body (and) the health of the body. 
Spirit of heaven, remember; spirit of earth, re- 
member." 

" Wasting, want of health, the evil spirit of 
the ulcer, spreading quinsey of the gullet, the 
violent ulcer, the noxious ulcer. Spirit of 
heaven, remember; spirit of earth, remember." 

" He who makes an image (which) injures 
the man, an evil face, an evil eye, an evil mouth, 
an evil tongue, evil lips, an evil poison. 
Spirit of heaven, remember; spirit of earth, re- 
member." (Records of the Past, Vol. I, p. 135.) 

In the middle ages this custom was known 
of making a waxen figure and melting it before 
the fire, when the person represented by this 
figure would waste away. In our own imme- 
diate neighborhood, within the memory of some 
living, an image of a man was made on a fence. 
This image was then shot with a silver bullet, 
and it was thought that thereby the wizard so 
represented would be destroyed. 

Darius, in his decree concerning the building 
of the house of God in Jerusalem, says : 

" And the God that hath caused his name to 
dwell there destroy all kings and people that 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 227 

shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy 
this house of God which is at Jerusalem." (Ezra 
vi, 12.) This same king, when he set up his 
tablet, engraved on a precipitous rock at Be- 
histun, said : " If seeing this tablet and these 
figures, thou shalt injure them, and shalt not 
preserve them as long as thy seed endures, then 
may Ormazd be thy enemy, and mayest thou be 
childless; and that which thou mayest do, may 
Ormazd curse it for thee." (Rawlinson, Rec- 
ords of the Past, Vol. I, p. 128.) 

Ashur-akh-bal invokes awful curses upon 
them who do not respect his tablets : 

" The man who shall not spare the face of 
these my tablets, who shall injure the written 
records of my name, who shall destroy these 
sculptures, or tear them off or hide them in the 
earth, or bury them in the ashes, or burn them 
with fire, or drown them in the waters ; or who 
shall remove them from their place, and shall 
throw them down where they will be trampled 
on by animals, and shall place them in the path- 
way of the cattle ; or who shall falsify my tab- 
lets which are now sculptured with good and 
pious words, and shall write on the face of my 
records any thing that is bad and impious ; or 
who shall change the words so as to confound 
their meaning, whether he be a nobleman or an 



228 WITNESSES FROM THE BUST. 

officer or any one else among my people; or who 
shall scrawl on the tablets that I have written, 
and shall say that they are not true ; or out of 
contempt shall turn the face of my tablets back- 
ward : May Asshur, the great lord, the god of 
Assyria, the lord of all royal crowns, curse his 
reign and destroy his works ! May he shake 
the foundations of his kingdom ! May want and 
famine, sickness and distress, prevail through- 
out his land." (Talbot, Records of the Past, 
Vol. VII, pp. 19, 20.) 

An Assyrian version of an incantation enu- 
merates the kinds of operations used by the 
Chaldsean sorcerers : 

1 ' The wizard has charmed me with the charm, has charmed 
me with his charm ; 

The witch has charmed me with the charm, has charmed 
me with her charm ; 

The sorcerer has bewitched me with the spell, has be- 
witched me with his spell ; 

The sorceress has bewitched me with the spell, has be- 
witched me with her spell ; 

He who enchants images has charmed away my life by 
image — 

He has taken the enchanted philter, and has soiled my 
garment with it; 

He has torn my garment, and dragged it in the dust of 
my feet. 

May the god Fire, the hero, dispel their enchant- 
ments." 

(Lenormant, Chaldsean Magic, p. 61.) 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 229 

To the Babylonians every possible phenom- 
enon was an omen of something. All conceiv- 
able occurrences could be divined from antece- 
dent occurrences. A great multitude of tables 
of omens were formed, and the system of augury 
was most formidable. The following table of 
omens, furnished by the actions of dogs, is a 
fair sample of all : 

4 '(A blue dog enters into a palace, that palace) is 

burned. 
A yellow dog enters into the palace ; exit from that pal- 
ace will be baneful. 
A spotted dog enters into the palace; that palace its 

peace to the enemy gives. 
A dog to the palace goes, and no one kills ; that palace 

its peace fails. 
A dog to the palace goes, and on a bed lies down ; that 

palace none with his hand takes. 
A dog to the palace goes, and on a throne lies down ; 

that palace is burned. 
A dog to the palace goes, and on the royal parasol lies 

down ; that palace its peace to the enemy gives. 
A dog into a temple enters ; the gods to the country 

grant no favor. 
A white dog into a temple enters ; the foundation of that 

temple is not stable. 
A black dog into a temple enters; the foundation of 

that temple is not stable. 
A blue dog into a temple enters ; that temple sees 

plenty. 
A yellow dog into a temple enters; that temple sees 

plenty. 



230 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

A spotted dog into a temple enters ; that temple do its 

gods love. 
Dogs crouch and into a temple enter ; none this (temple) 

with his hand takes." 
(Sayce, Records of the Past, Vol. V, pp. 169, 170.) 

Among the ruins near the small village of 
Jumjuma, Mr. Layard discovered several terra- 
cotta charm bowls, which may have been used 
when Daniel was president of the Chaldsean col- 
lege of wise men. On the inner surface they 
bear inscriptions in Hebrew letters. When such 
a bowl was filled with water, the writing was 
dissolved, and the potion was then drunk as a 
charm against witchcraft and magic. We pre- 
sent a translation: 

"This is a bill of divorce of the Devil to 
Satan, to Nerig, to Zachiah, and to Abitur of 
the mountains, and to the night-monsters, com- 
manding them to cease from Behoran in Bat- 
naiun, and from the country of the North, and 
from all who are tormented by them therein. 
Behold, I make the counsels of these devils of 
no effect, and annul the power of the ruler of 
the night-monsters. I conjure you all, monsters, 
both male and female, to go forth; I conjure you 
by the scepter of the powerful One, who has 
power over the devils, and over the night-mon- 
sters, to quit these habitations. Behold, I now 
make you cease from troubling them, and make 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 231 

the influence of your presence cease in Behoran 
of Batnaiun, and in their fields ! In the same 
manner as the devils write bills of divorce and 
give them to their wives and return not unto 
them again, receive ye your bill of divorce, and 
take this written authority, and go forth, leave 
quickly, flee, and depart from Behoran in Bat- 
naiun in the name of the living, by the seal of 
the powerful One, and by the signet of author- 
ity. Then will there flow rivers of water in 
that land, and there the parched ground will be 
watered. Amen. Amen. Amen. Selah." (New- 
man, Babylon and Nineveh, pp. 143, 144.) 

Such were some of the superstitions with 
which the Israelites of the dispersion came in 
contact. Indeed, from their earliest to their 
latest history, the Israelites never entirely threw 
off the belief in magical influences. 

There was a conspiracy in the harem of 
Rameses III, in which the highest officials and 
most trusted servants had a part. Fortunately 
the very magnitude of the conspiracy proved its 
overthrow. It was revealed to the king, and he 
summoned a court of justice, appointed judges 
with power to try and sentence the guilty, and 
ordered a speedy investigation. A remarkable 
document — The Judicial Papyrus of Turin — pre- 
serves the names of the judges, the instructions 



232 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

they received from the king, and their report — 
which embodies the result of the trial. 

Fragments of the Lee and Rollin Papyrus, 
treating of the same subject, refer to the em- 
ployment of magical influences as the means to 
be used to destroy the king. The wife of the 
king, a lady named Thi, and his son Pentaur 
were chiefs in the conspiracy with the object of 
seating the latter on the throne. A translation 
of two of these fragments will make the matter 
sufficiently plain : 

" Thus, then, spoke Penhi, who was superin- 
tendent of the herds of cattle, to him : ' If I only 
possessed a writing which would give me power 
and strength !' Then he gave him a writing from 
the rolls of the books of Ramses III, the great 
god, his lord. Then there came upon him a di- 
vine magic, an enchantment for men. He reached 
(thereby ?) to the side of the women's house, and 
into that other great and deep place. He formed 
human figures of wax, with the intention of hav- 
ing them carried in by the hand of the land-sur- 
vevor Adiroma; to alienate the mind of one of the 
girls, and to bewitch the others. Some of the dis- 
courses were carried in, others were brought out. 
Now, however, he was bronght to trial on ac- 
count of them, and there was found in them in- 
citation to all kinds of wickedness, and all kinds 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 233 

of villainy, which it was his intention to have 
done. It was true that he had done all this in 
conjunction with the other chief culprits, who, like 
him, were without a god or a goddess. They in- 
flicted on him the great punishment of death, such 
as the holy writings pronounced against him." 
Another fragment says to the same point: 
" He had made some magical writings to ward 
off ill luck ; he had made some gods of wax, and 
some human figures to paralyze the limbs of a 
man; and he had put these into the hand of 
Bokakamon, though the sun-god Ra did not per- 
mit that he should accomplish this, either he, or 
the superintendent of the house, or the other 
chief culprits, because he (the god) said: 'Let 
them go forward with it, that they may furnish 
grounds for proceeding against them.' Thus 
had he attempted to complete the shameful deeds 
which he had prepared without the sun-god Ra 
having granted them actual success. He was 
brought to trial, and they found out the real 
facts, consisting in all kinds of crime and all sorts 
of villainy, which his heart had imagined to do. 
It was true that he had purposed to do all this 
in concert with all the chief culprits, who were 
like him. This was a grievous crime, worthy 
of death; and grievous wickedness for the land 

which he had committed. But they found out 

20 J 



234 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the grievous crime, worthy of death, which he 
had committed. He died by his own hand." 

Rameses XII, of the twentieth dynasty, mar- 
ried the eldest daughter of the king of Bakha- 
tana, to whom he became greatly attached. In 
the fifteenth year, while Pharaoh was at Thebes, 
there came a messenger from the king of Bakha- 
tana, who fell down before Pharaoh and said : 
"I am come to thee, the great lord, on account 
of Bint-resh, the youngest sister of the queen 
Noferu-ra. She is suffering in her body. May 
thy majesty send a learned expert to see her." 
A man was selected — "a man of a clever mind, 
and a finger skillful in writing " — who accompa- 
nied the envov to Bakhatana, but "when the 
expert had reached the city of the land of Bak- 
hatana, in which Bint-resh dwelt after the man- 
ner of one possessed with a spirit, then he found 
himself unable to contend with him (the spirit)." 
The king again sent to Pharaoh : " Great lord 
and ruler! May thy majesty order that the god 
may be sent ;" and Khonsu, the oracular god of 
Thebes, was sent, the ark of the god being con- 
veyed on its carriage. The journey was a year 
and five months. "Then the god went to the 
place where Bint-resh dwelt. Then he caused 
the talisman to work upon the daughter of the 
king of Bakhatana. She became well on the 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 235 

spot. Then spake that spirit which possessed 
her before Khonsu, the oracular, of Thebes : i Wel- 
come as a friend, thou great god, driver away 
of evil. Thine is the city of Bakhatana. Thy 
servants are its inhabitants. I am thy servant. 
I will return whence I came, to make thy heart 
satisfied about the object for which thou wast 
brought hither. May I request thy holiness 
that there may be a feast celebrated in my com- 
pany and in the company of the king of Bakha- 
tana?' Then this god assented graciously to his 
prophet and he said : ' Let the king of Bakhatana 
prepare a great sacrifice for this spirit. When 
that has been done, then will Khonsu, the orac- 
ular, unite himself with the spirit.' And the 
king of Bakhatama stood there, together with 
his people, and was very much afraid. Then he 
prepared a great sacrifice for Khonsu, the orac- 
ular, of Thebes, and for this spirit. The king 
of Bakhatana celebrated a feast for them. Then 
the glorious spirit went thence whither it pleased 
him, as Khonsu, the oracular, of Thebes, had 
commanded. And the king of Bakhatana was 
delighted beyond all measure, together with all 
the men who dwelt at Bakhatana." 

The king retained the god who had per- 
formed so wonderful a cure for three years and 
nine months. Then, in his dream, he saw the 



236 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

god in the form of a golden sparrow-hawk take 
his flight heavenwards towards Egypt. When 
he awoke he was lame. Taking these things as 
a revelation of the divine will, he returned 
Khonsu to Egypt. (Brugsch, Egypt Under the 
Pharaohs, Vol. II, pp. 164-172, 191-194.) 

Abundant references to magical mysteries 
may be found in various Egyptian works. " The 
Magic Papyrus" of the Harris collection now in 
the British Museum belongs to the nineteenth or 
twentieth dynasty. It is of great value as 
exhibiting a strange mingling of magic, religion, 
and mythology. In the funeral ritual there are 
no less than eleven chapters of formulae or "en- 
chantments," wherewith Egyptian magicians — 
called " scribes," " scribes of the second house," 
or " scribes of occult writings " — stopped or drove 
away snakes, asps, crocodiles, and other noxious 
creatures. Magic books belonged exclusively to 
the king, who called upon members of a college 
of priests to consult the sacred books in times 
of difficulty. It is quite possible that in some 
of these magic formulae we have the very words 
used by the magicians in their competition with 
Moses in the presence of Pharaoh. Paul pre- 
serves the traditional names of the two princi- 
pal magicians — Jannes and Jambres — Egyptian 
names meaning "scribe." 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 237 

The following formulae will be read with pe- 
culiar interest on this account : 

" Hail to you, five great gods, issuing from 
Sesoun, who (when) not being in heaven, not 
being on earth, not existing Shou, have been 
the morning light ! Come to me ! Try for me 
the river ! Shut up what is in it ! What is 
immersed, do not let it pass out ! Seal the 
mouths ! Seal the mouths ! Choke up the 
mouths ! Choke up the mouths ! As is sealed 
up the shrine for centuries ! At daybreak in 
the East ; as is sealed the sharp edge of the 
blade of Anata and Astarta, the two great god- 
desses who conceive and do not breed ; who 
were sealed up by Horus, who were planned by 
Set ! By those who are in heaven, do perform 
your help !" 

" Come to me ! Come to me ! Image of the 
millions of millions of gods. Num, unique Son ! 

he who was conceived yesterday and bred to- 
day ! he whose name I know ! he who is pos- 
sessed of seventy-seven eyes and seventy-seven 
ears ! Come, and allow my voice to be heard, 
the voice of the great goose Kaka in the evening. 

1 am Bahu, the great, I am Bahu, the great !" 

This formula was to be recited four times : 
" Hail to thee, ape of seven cubits, whose eye 
is of silver, whose lip is of fire, and burning (are) 



238 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

all his words. Calm the deep ! Let thy safe- 
guard be poured forth !" 

This magic spell is " to shut inclosures :" 
"I shut the inclosures through my mother 
Rannou, having two legs, and of Hon. I stay in 
the country. Horus allows it to be pervaded. 
I confide in the efficacy of that excellent writ- 
ten book given to-day into my hand, which 
repels lions through fascination, disables men; 
which repels men through fascination, disables 
lions ; which muzzles the mouths of lions, hyenas, 
wolves, the heads of all animals having long 
tails, living upon flesh, drinking blood, (which) 
muzzles the mouth of the tiger, muzzles the 
mouth of the leopard, muzzles the mouth of 
the zapulma, muzzles the mouth of the lioness, 
muzzles the mouth of her who sees, muzzles 
the mouth of Sekhet, the good, muzzles the 
mouth of the great living woman, muzzles the 
mouth of all men who have bad faces, so as to 
paralyze their limbs, not to allow the action 
(working) of their flesh and bones, to keep 
them in the shade, to cause darkness, not to 
allow daylight for them at every moment of 
night. Shatabuta, Artabuhia ! Thou art the 
keeper, warlike, tremendous ! Safeguard !" This 
was " told for safeguard." (Chabas, Records of 
the Past, Vol. X, pp. 135-158.) 



BLACK ARTS IN ASSYRIA AND EGYPT. 239 

From the "Magic Texts" a few sentences 
are taken : 

" ! fatal words keeping the heart of the 
Magic Book. The twentieth Thoth is the day 
to receive the Book of Orders. Life and death 
proceed from it ; the Magic Book was incorpo- 
rated in that day. This hidden book triumphs 
over enchantments, connects ligatures, prepares 
ties, destroys the lock. Life and death proceed 
from it. Come not beneath its influence. If 
any one falls in its power he dies (as if killed 
by blows) forthwith. Go not very far, for life 
and death are in it; the scribe of . . . has 
made it in his name for the treasury." 

" These are the titles of the four books : the 
Old Book, the Book to Destroy Men, the Great 
Book, the Book to* be as God." (Birch, Rec- 
ords of the Past, Vol. VI, pp. 117, 122.) 

The character of the magic mixtures pre- 
pared by Egyptian priests may be learned from 
these formulae : 

" First Formula : In the place where one makes 
the image of Osiris, who dwells in the West, 
flowers of the sea-water, 4 jars; 4i jars of sand 
or sea-weed; 2h jars of essence of cedar oil; 2£ 
jars of liquid shot (spirits of wine), put in a mys- 
tic pot of earthenware, firm in his hands; and 
10 ursei serpents, shaped like the white crown 



240 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

on the head. Do not consider the work un- 
known. One grain of incense ; 1 smoke or fu- 
migation; 2 jars of bitumen; 2 wax candles; 2i 
jars of foam of (tas). 

" Thou hast done all he has done ; he will 
make the breath return ; he embalms the work ; 
he is unknown. 

"Second Formula: 2 grains of incense; 2 fu- 
migations; 2 jars of cedar oil; 2 jars of tas; 
2 jars of wine; 2 jars of liquid shot. At the 
place of thy heart they embalm strongly. Thou 
art protected (against accidents) of life ; thou 
art protected against a violent death ; thou art 
protected against fire; thou escapest in heaven, 
and thou art not ruined on earth; He has been 
saved from (death), and has not been consumed 
by the gods." 

Such are some of the magic mixtures held 
to be most potent charms. Many of these for- 
mulae have been translated ; many more await 
the study of the Egyptologer. (Birch, Records 
of the Past, Vol. VI, p. 125.) 



XVIII. 



4+1$ 



t JDrinL suit b fUjir^*" 



21 



241 



XVIII. 



THE festal dirge of the ancient Egyptians is 
assigned to the eleventh dynasty: 

"All hail to the good prince! 
The worthy good (man) : 
The body is fated (?) to pass away ; 
The atoms 

Remain, ever since the time of the ancestors. 
The gods who were beforetime rest in their tombs ; 
The mummies 

Of the saints likewise are enwrapped in their tombs. 
They who build houses and they who have no houses, see ! 
What becomes of them? 

I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hartatef. 
It is said in their sayings, 
After all, what is prosperity? 
Their fenced walls are dilapidated ; 
Their houses are as that which has never existed. ■ 
No man comes from thence 
Who tells of their sayings, 
Who tells of their affairs, 
Who encourages our hearts. 
Ye go 

To the place whence they return not. 
Strengthen thy heart to forget how thou hast enjoyed 

Thyself; 
Fulfill thy desire whilst thou livest. 

243 



244 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Put oils upon thy head ; 

Clothe thyself with fine linen, adorned with precious 

metals. 
With the gifts of God 
Multiply thy good things. 
Yield to thy desire; 
Fulfill thy desire with thy good things 
(Whilst thou art) upon earth, 
According to the dictation of thy heart. 
The day will come to thee 
When one hears not the voice — 
When one who is at rest hears not 
Their voices. 

Lamentations deliver not him who is in the tomb. 
Feast in tranquillity, 
Seeing that there is no one who carries away his goods 

with him. 
Yea, behold! none who goes thither comes back again." 
(Goodwin, Records of the Past, Vol. IV, pp. 117, 118.) 

Of similar import is the Song of the Harper 
of the eighteenth dynasty. We present a few 
passages : 

1 'Make a good day, O holy father! 
Let odors and oils stand before thy nostril. 
Wreaths of lotus are on the arms and bosom of thy 

sister — 
Dwelling in thy heart, sitting beside thee. 
Let song and music be before thy face, 
And leave behind thee all evil cares ! 
Mind thee of joy, till cometh the day of pilgrimage, 
When we draw near the land which loveth silence. 

Make a good day, O holy father ! 



"EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY: 1 245 

Neferhotep, pure of hands ! 

No works of buildings in Egypt could avail ; 

His resting-place is all his wealth 

Let me return to know what remaineth of him ! 
Not the least moment could be added to his life, 
(When he went to) the realm of eternity. 
Those who have magazines full of bread to spend, 
Even they shall encounter the hour of a last end. 

Mind thee of the day when thou too shalt start for the land 

To which one goeth to return not thence. 

Good for thee then will have been (an honest life) ; 

Therefore be just, and hate transgressions ; 

For he who loveth justice (will be blessed). 

The coward and the bold, neither can fly (the grave). 

The friendless and proud are alike 

Then let thy bounty give abundantly, as is fit ; 
(Love) truth, and Isis shall bless the good, 
(And thou shalt attain a happy) old age." 

(Stern, Eecords of the Past, Vol. VI, pp. 129, 130.) 

This was a hymn sung by the harper at the 
anniversary feast held in memory of the de- 
ceased Neferhotep. These funeral rites were 
performed in the tomb. 

Herodotus says : " In social meetings among 
the rich, when the banquet is ended, a servant 
carries round to the several guests a coffin in 
which there is a wooden image of a corpse, carved 
and painted to resemble nature as nearly as possi- 
ble, about a cubit or two cubits in length. As 
he shows it to each guest in turn, the servant 



246 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

says, ' Gaze here, and drink and be merry ; for 
when you die, such will you be.' ' (Herodotus 
II, 780 

The wooden image was a mummy in the usual 
form of Osiris, shown at the feast to remind them 
of their mortality ; not to produce sadness, but 
joy in the prospect of speedy union with the 
god ; and to induce them to live as strangers and 
pilgrims. This advice was often disregarded, and 
the sense of the observance perverted. (Wisdom 
ii, 1; Isaiah xxii, 13; Ecclesiastes ii, 24; Luke 
xii, 19; Horace, Carmina II, iii, 13.) 

"Eat not of it raw." (Exodus xii, 9.) In the 
twenty-sixth dynasty an edict of extermination 
was issued against a growing sect called Turn- 
pesiu Pertot Khdiu: "Do not cook,; let violence 
kill." The following is the edict : " Let not them 
enter the temple of Amen of Napat, residing in 
Du-uab, because of that word, a sin it is to tell 
it (anew), which they spoke in the temple of 
Amen. (For) they told a word, but god granted 
that it had not effect, (and) they plotted a plot 
in their hearts to slay the man who would not 
partake of their sin, but god granted not that it 
had effect — God caused the speech of their mouth 
which they had spoken to that effect to become 
the ruin of them ; he smote them, causing the 
king's fire to pass (in the middle of them)." 



"EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY." 247 

The unknown king further decreed : " If ever 
prophet or priest do an evil doing in the temples, 
let god smite them ; let not their feet be any 
more upon earth ; let not their posterity continue 
after them, so that the temple be not supplied 
with their crimes, but be free of their lie !" 

In Abyssinia there is a curious custom of 
eating brinde, or raw meat. (Maspero, Records 
of the Past, Vol. IV., pp. 95, 96.) 



XTX. 



isitj ^ang$ ntft Jarni$i JPnupt^ 



249 



XIX. 

TO the child and to the rude race poetry is 
a natural language. Early races personify 
every object in nature ; feel life all about them ; 
use striking metaphors ; think in symbols ; love 
rhythm, parallelisms, and alliteration ; deify human 
speech ; sing songs and chant rude melodies ; and 
accompany the voice by abundant symbolic ac- 
tions and gesticulations. Man, in the infancy of 
a people, feels that he lives near nature's heart ; 
and from the infinitude, by which he is encom- 
passed, tidings from unseen and loftier worlds 
flit about him with their holy influences. He 
listens, hears these tidings, interprets their mean- 
ings, and his soul sings. Standing at the head 
of any literature, and originating early in its his- 
tory, is the work of some master poet, either 
created by himself, or gathered and fused and 
stamped by his genius. Confucius regretted that 
he could not spend a lifetime in the study of the 
Book of Poetry. India has its Rig-Veda, and 
Persia its Zend-Avesta. Mohammed vented his 
fiery soul in poetic strains of eloquence scarcely 

251 



252 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

equaled in later times. Egypt and Israel each 
had its early poetry. The Finns have their great 
epic. Homer sang in an epic unsurpassed. Ice- 
land has preserved the Norse Edda. The Bards 
of Wales taught history, philosophy, science, and 
religion, in song. And so ancient Babylonia has 
its great national epic ; and the Accadian race* 
which preceded the Semites on the Mesopota- 
mian plains, sung hymns of praise to the gods. 
Prayer and praise are found side by side. It is 
a most interesting study to enter these ancient 
shrines and hear the voice of prayer, and feel the 
throbbings of the hearts of these old worthies — 
children of nature feeling after God, or children 
of false science and false theology endeavoring 
to command unseen powers by magic rites. 

I. 

The following Accadian penitential psalm dates 
back to more than sixteen hundred years before 
Christ. The parallelism of ideas and clauses, 
imitated by both Assyrian and Israelitish poets, 
is noticeable even in an English translation. The 
spirit is excellent. 

* ' The heart of my Lord was wroth ; to his place may he 
return. 
From the man that (sinned) unknowingly to his place 
may (my) god return. 



HOLY SONGS AND EARNEST PRAYERS. 253 

From him that (sinned) unknowingly to her place may 

(the) goddess return. 
May god who knoweth (that) he knew not to his place 
return. 

May the goddess who knoweth (that) he knew not to her 
place return. 
May the heart of my god to his place return. 
May the heart of my goddess to her place return. 

May my god and my goddess (unto their place) return. 
May god (unto his place) return. 
May the goddess (unto her place return). 

The transgression (that I committed my god) knew it. 

The transgression (that I committed my goddess knew it). 
The holy name (of my god I profaned ?). 
The holy name (of my goddess I profaned?). 

The waters of the sea (the waters of my tears) do I drink. 
That which was forbidden by my god with my mouth 

I ate. 
That which was forbidden by my goddess in my igno- 
rance I trampled upon. 
O my Lord, my transgression (is) great, many (are) my sins. 
O my god, my transgression (is) great, my sins (are many). 
O my goddess, my transgression (is) great, my sins (are 
many). 
O my god that knowest (that) I knew not, my transgress- 
ion (is) great, my sins (are many). 
O my goddess that knowest (that) I knew not, my trans- 
gression (is) great, my sins (are many.) 
The transgression (that) I committed I knew not. 
The sin (that) I sinned I knew not. 
The forbidden thing did I eat. 
The forbidden thing did I trample upon. 

My Lord in the wrath of his heart has punished me. 
God in the strength of his heart has overpowered me. 



254 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The goddess upon me has laid affliction and in pain has 
set me. 
God who knew, (though) I knew not, hath pierced me. 
The goddess who knew, (though) I knew not, hath caused 
darkness. 
I lay on the ground and no man seized me by the hand. 
I wept, and my palms none took. 

I cried aloud; there was none that would hear me. 
I am in darkness (and) trouble ; I lifted not myself up. 
To my god my (distress) I referred ; my prayer I ad- 
dressed. 
The feet of my goddess I embraced. 

To (my) god, who kuew (though) I knew not, (my 

prayer) I addressed. 
To (my) goddess, who knew (though I knew not, my 
prayer) I addressed. 

How long, O my god (shall I suffer?). 
How loug O my goddess (shall I suffer?). 

How loug O my god, who knewest (though) I knew not, 

shall (thy) strength (oppress me?). 
How long O my goddess, who knewest (though) I knew 
not, shall thy heart (be wroth?). 
Of mankind thou writest the number and there is none 

that knoweth. 
Of mankind the name (that) is fully proclaimed how can 
I know? 
Whether it be afflicted or whether it be blessed there is 
none that knoweth. 
O Lord, thy servant thou dost not restore. 
In the waters of the raging flood seize his hand. 

The sin (that) he has sinned to blessedness bring back. 
The transgression he has committed let the wind carry 
away. 



HOLY SONGS AND EARNEST PRAYERS. 255 

My manifold affliction like a garment destroy. 
O my son, seven times seven (are my) transgressions, my 

transgressions are before (me). 
O my goddess, seven times seven (are my) transgressions. 

[To be repeated (ten times) ] 

O god who knowest (that) I knew not, seven times seven 
(are my) transgressions. 

O goddess who knowest (that) I knew not, seven times 
seven (are my) transgressions. 
My transgressions are before (me) ; may thy judgment 

give (me) life. 
May thy heart like the heart of the mother of the set- 
ting day to its place return. 

Like the mother of the setting day (and) the father of the 
setting day to its place (may it return). 

[To be repeated (five times) ]." 

The name of every god is to be invoked 
sixty-five times "for the tearful supplication of 
my heart." (Sayce, Records of the Past, Vol. 
VII, pp. 153-156.) 

ii. 

a prayer for the king. 

" Length of days, 
Long lasting years, 
A strong sword, 
A long life, 

Extended years of glory, 
Pre-eminence among kings, 
Grant ye to the king, my lord, 
Who has given such gifts 
To his gods! 



256 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The bounds, vast and wide, 
Of his empire, 
And of his rule, 

May he enlarge and may he complete! 
Holding over all kings supremacy 
And royalty and empire, 
May he attain to gray hairs 
And old age ! 

And after the life of these days, 
In the feasts of the silver mountain, the heavenly courts, 
The abode of blessedness, 
And in the light 
Of the Happy Fields, 
May he dwell a life, 
Eternal, holy, 
In the presence 
Of the gods 
Who inhabit Assyria!" 

III. 

A PRAYER FOR THE SOUL OF THE DYING. 

" Like a bird, may it fly to a lofty place ! 
To the holy hands of its god may it ascend !" 

" The man who is departing in glory, 
May his soul shine radiant as brass ! 
To that man 
May the Sun give life ! 
And Marduk, eldest son of heaven, 
Grant him an abode of happiness!" 



HOLY SONGS AND EARNEST PRAYERS. 257 

IV. 

THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS. 

"Bind the sick man to heaven, for from the earth he is 

being torn away ! 
Of the brave man who was so strong, his strength has 

departed. 
Of the righteous servant, the force does not return. 
In his bodily frame he lies dangerously ill. 
But Ishtar, who in her dwelliug is grieved concerning 

him, 
Descends from her mountain, un visited of men. 
To the door of the sick man she comes. 
The sick man listens ! 
Who is there? Who comes? 
It is Ishtar, daughter of the moon-god, Sin : 
It is the god (...) son of Bel : 
It is Marduk, son of the god (...). 
They approach the body of the sick man. 

They briug a cup (?) from the heavenly treasury; 
They bring a sisbu from their lofty storehouse. 
Into the precious cup they pour bright liquor. 
That righteous man, may he now rise on high! 
May he shine like that cup (?) ! 
May he be bright as that sisbu! 
Like pure silver, may his garment be shining white ! 
Like brass, may he be radiant ! 
To the Sun, greatest of the gods, may he ascend ! 
And may the Sun, greatest of the gods, receive his soul 
into his holy hands !" 
(Talbot, Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 133, et seq.) 
22 



258 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



V. 

A hymn to Amen-Ra contains many fine 
passages. The following are selected : 

' ' Praise to Amen-Ra ! 
The Bull in An, chief of all gods : 
The good god beloved, 
Giving life to all animated things, 
To all fair cattle. 

Supporter of affairs above every god, 
In whose goodness the gods rejoice — 
To whom admiration is paid in the great house — 
Crowned in the house of flame, 
Whose fragrance the gods love, 
When he comes from Arabia : 
Prince of the dew, traversing foreign lands, 
Benignly approaching the Holy Land. 

Hail to thee, Ra, Lord of 
truth ! 

Whose shrine is hidden, Lord 
of the gods, — 

Chepra, in his boat, 

At whose command the gods 
were made, — 

Athom, maker of men, 

Supporting their works, giv- 
ing them life, 

Distinguishing the color of 
one from another, 

Listening to the poor who is 
amen. in distress, 

Gentle of heart when one cries unto him. 




HOLY SONGS AND EARNEST PRAYERS. 259 

Deliverer of the timid man from the violent ; 
Judging the poor, the poor and the oppressed, — 
Lord of wisdom, whose precepts are wise, 
At whose pleasure the Nile overflows, — 
Lord of mercy, most loving, 
At whose coming men live, — 
Opener of every eye, 
Proceeding from the firmament; 
Causer of pleasure and light, 
At whose goodness the gods rejoice — 
Their hearts revive when they see him. 

Hail to thee for all these things ! 
The One alone with many hands, 
Lying awake while all men lie (asleep), 
To seek out the good of his creatures, — 
Amen, sustainer of all things; 
Athom Horus of the horizon — 
Homage to thee in all their voices, 
Salutation to thee for thy mercy unto us, 
Protestations to thee who hast created us. 

Hail to thee ! say all creatures, — 
Salutation to thee from every land, 
To the height of heaven, to the breadth of the earth, 
To the depth of the sea, 
The gods adore thy majesty, 
The spirits thou hast created exalt (thee). 
Rejoicing before the feet of thy begetter, 
They cry out, Welcome to thee! 
Father of the fathers of all the gods, 
Who raises the heavens, who fixes the earth. 

Maker of beings, creator of existences ; 
Sovereign of life, health, and strength, chief of the 
gods, 



260 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

We worship thy spirit, who alone hast made us. 

We whom thou hast made (thank thee) that thou hast 

given us birth ; 
We give to thee praises on account of thy mercy to us." 
(Goodwin, Records of the Past, Vol. II, p. 129, et seq.) 

VI. 

The Hymn to the Nile, composed by Enna, 
a well-known Egyptian author, in the time of 
Meneptah, son of Rameses II, of the nineteenth 
dynasty, and probably contemporary with Moses, 
shows in its form marked resemblance to the ear- 
liest Hebrew poetry. It surely teaches also that 
back of and above all Egyptian gods there is 
one supreme God. A few verses are presented 
as a specimen : 

"Hail to thee, O Nile! 
Thou showest thyself in this land, 
Coming in peace, giving life to Egypt; 
O Ammon, (thou,)leadest night unto day, 
A. leading that rejoices the heart ! 
Overflowing the gardens created by Ra. 
Giving life to all animals ; 
Watering, the land without ceasing ; 
The way of heaven descending; 
Lover of food, bestower of corn, 
Giving light to every home, O Ptah ! 

Lord of fishes, when the inundation returns, 
No fowls fall on the cultures. 
Maker of spelt ; creator of wheat ; 
Who maintaineth the temples ! 



HOLY SONGS AND EARNEST PRAYERS. 261 

Idle hands he loathes 
For myriads, for all the wretched. 
If the gods in heaven are grieved, 
Then sorrow cometh on men. 

He maketh the whole land open to the oxen, 
And the great and the small are rejoicing; 
The response of men at his coming*! 
His likeness is Num ! 
He shineth, then the land exulteth ! 
All bellies are in joy ! 
Every creature receives nourishment ! 
All teeth get food. 

Bringer of food ! Great Lord of provisions ! 
Creator of all good things ! 
Lord of terrors and of choicest joys ! 
All are combined in him. 
He produce th grass for the oxen ; 
Providing victims for every god. 
The choice incense is that which he supplies. 
Lord in both regions, 

He filleth the granaries, enricheth the storehouses, 
He careth for the state of the poor. 

He causeth growth to fulfill all desires, 
He never wearies of it. 
He maketh his might a buckler. 
He is not graven in marble, 
As an image bearing the double crown. 
He is not beheld ; 

He hath neither ministrants nor offerings ; 
He is not adored in sanctuaries ; 
His abode is not known ; 
No shrine is found with painted figures. 



262 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

There is no building that can contain hiin?* 
There is no counselor in thy heart !f 
Thy youth delight in thee, thy children ; 
Thou directest them as king. 
Thy law is established in the whole land, 
In the presence of thy servants in the North ; 
Every eye is satisfied with him ; 
He careth for the abundance of his blessings. " 
(Cook, Records of the Past, Vol. IV, pp. 107-110.) 

VII. 

Nofer-i-Thi, queen of Khunaten, who was 
devoted to the worship of the one deity, Aten, 
the sun-disk, thus addressed the rising sun : 
" Thou disk of the sun, thou living God ! there 
is none other beside thee ! Thou givest health 
to the eyes through thy beams, Creator of all 
beings. Thou goest up on the eastern horizon 
of heaven to dispense life to all which thou hast 
created ; to man, four-footed beasts, birds, and 
all manner of creepings things on the earth, 
where they live. Thus they behold thee, and 
they go to sleep when thou settest. Grant to 
thy son, who loves thee, life in truth, to the lord 
of the land, Khunaten, that he may live united 
with thee in eternity. As for her, his wife, the 
queen Nofer-i-Thi, may she live for evermore and 
eternally by his side, well-pleasing to thee ; she 



*1 Kings viii, 27. t Isaiah xi, 13, 14. 



HOLY SONGS AND EARNEST PRAYERS. 263 

admires what thou hast created day by day. 
He (the king) rejoices at the sight of thy bene- 
fits. Grant him a long existence as king of 
the land." 

VIII. 

Aahmes, faithful servant of Khunaten, in 
true devotion prays to the Sun : 

u Beautiful is thy setting, thou Sun's disk of 
life, thou lord of lords, the king of the worlds. 
When thou unitest thyself with the heaven at 
thy setting mortals rejoice before thy counte- 
nance, and .give honor to him who has created 
them, and pray before him who has formed them, 
before the glance of thy son, who loves thee, the 
king Khunaten. The whole land of Egypt and 
all peoples repeat all thy names at thy rising, to 
magnify thy rising in like manner as thy set- 
ting. Thou, God, who art in truth the living 
one, standest before the two eyes. Thou art he 
which createst what never was, which formest 
every thing that is in the universe. We also 
have come into being through the word of thy 
mouth. Give me favor before the king every 
day ; let there not be wanting to me a good 
burial after attaining old age in the territory of 
Khunaten, when I shall have finished my course 
of life peaceably. I am a servant of the divine 
benefactor (the king) ; I accompany him to all 



264 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

places where he loves to stay. I am a com- 
panion at his feet. For he raised me to great- 
ness when I was yet a child, till [the day of 
my] honors in good fortune. The servant of the 
prince rejoices, and is in a festive disposition 
every day." (Brugsch, Egypt under the Pha- 
raohs, Vol. I, pp. 502, 501.) 

Egyptian poetry, like the Assyrian, resem- 
bles Hebrew poetry in several important particu- 
lars. The parallelism of clauses and the rhyme 
of sense to which attention has been several 
times directed, are the same in both. Many 
figurative expressions familiar to the Hebrew 
scholar, and some of them of great beauty, are 
to be met with in Assyrian and Egyptian. The 
selections given in this chapter are sufficient for 
fruitful comparisons. 



XX. 



U 



agjpfc m % ]pnhnn. 



ft 



23 



265 



XX. 



INHERE are references to the idea of a judg- 
ment by weighing in Zoroastrianism and 
other ancient faiths. The most detailed account 
is from Egypt. Whether all or any of these 
are connected with the "balances" of Daniel v, 
27, it is most difficult to decide. The figure 
is so appropriate that it may well have origi- 
nated in a number of independent religions. 
The judgment scene from Egypt is worthy of 
presentation. 

Among the most important of the religious 
works of the Egyptians, the chief place must be 
accorded to "The Book of the Dead," or, as 
the Egyptian title reads, "The Manifestation of 
Light." Claiming to be a revelation of Thoth, the 
Egyptian Hermes, it declares the will of the gods 
and reveals divine mysteries. From the eleventh 
dynasty extracts of this most sacred of books 
were placed in the coffins of the dead. They 
are to be found on the inner sides of the chests, on 
the inner walls of the tombs, on the linen wrap- 
pings of the mummies ; or, again, especially in the 

257 




268 



OUTER GALLERY OF TEMPLE. 



WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE." 



269 



later times of the Pharaohs, copies written on 
papyrus were deposited with the dead. 

The first sixteen chapters consist of the 
prayers and invocations to be used from the 
moment of death to the commencement of the 
embalming process. At the very moment of 
death the soul, separated from the body, ad- 
dresses the deity of Hades. He presents his 




EGYPTIAN MUMMY CASES. 

claims to favor, and asks admittance to the 
realm of the shades. The chorus of glorified 
souls, with sympathetic interest, support his 
prayer. Osiris answers : " Fear nothing in mak- 
ing thy prayer to me for the immortality of thy 
soul, and that I may give permission for thee to 
pass the threshold." The soul, strengthened and 
encouraged by this assurance, enters the land of 
the dead. He now, for the first time, sees the 



270 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Sun in the lower hemisphere and is dazzled 
by its glory. He sings to the Sun a hymn 
of praise. 

The journeys of the soul in the lower regions 
must now begin, but first there must be granted 
the divine provision of knowledge as the nourish- 
ment needful to sustain and strengthen it in its 
long wanderings. The seventeenth chapter con- 
tains the Egyptian faith, mystical and much of 
it quite unintelligible. There is a large vignette 
with a series of most sacred symbols, obscure and 
mysterious, accompanied by explanations equally 
obscure. There are now prayers to be said whilst 
the body is being rolled in its wrappings, in which 
allusions are made to the contest of Osiris w T ith 
Typhon, the demon of darkness, invoking the aid 
of Thoth, the conductor of souls, against the god 
of the shades. The body is wrapped in its cover- 
ings, the soul 
is provided 
with the food 
ofknowledge, 
but can not 

EMBALMED BODY IN. COFFIN. mOA r e H Step. 

He prays to the gods, and they restore the use 
of his limbs and all his faculties as during life. 
The soul starts on his wanderings, and the sa- 
cred scarabseus is his passport. Holding this 




" WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE:' 



271 



over his heart, he passes through the gloomy 
portal. 

His journey is no pleasant pastime. Fright- 
ful monsters — crocodiles, serpents, reptiles of 
many forms — surround him, they are the serv- 
ants of Typhon. They glare upon him, they 




CHAMBER OF TOMB. 



attack him, they seek to devour him. The mon- 
sters address him in most insulting speeches, 
and he replies in like manner. Like Homer's 
heroes, they lash one another with the tongue. 
He is aided by the gods ; conquers all his ene- 
mies; forces his passage through the midst of 



272 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



defeated monsters ; and, feeling that all the gods 
severally have taken possession of the different 
members of bis body, and thus made him invin- 
cible in battle, he raises to them a song of tri- 
umph. His is no small triumph ; for, be it 
known, had he gone astray into the desert, he 
would have died of hunger and thirst. Thus far 
he is safe, but exhausted. He rests, recruits his 
strength, and satisfies his hunger. After the 
goddess Nu has refreshed him from the tree of 
life, he is prepared to continue his journey. 

He talks with Divine Light, who instructs 
him and conducts him still further on his won- 
drous w T ay. A se- 
ries of transforma- 
tions identify him 
with noblest di- 
vine symbols. He 
is successively a 
hawk, an angel, 
a lotus, the god 
Phthah, a heron, 
a crane, a human- 
headed bird, a 
swallow, a ser- 
pent, a crocodile. 
Meantime the body has been carefully preserved 
by embalming. The soul has heretofore trav- 




ISIS AND NEPHTHYS. 



"WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE. 273 

eled as a shade. He is now reunited with his 
body. Passing through the dwelling of Thoth, 
that goddess gives him a book to read along the 
way. It contains important truths which he 
now requires to know. He reaches the banks 
of a subterranean stream. Beyond are the Elys- 
ian fields. Here is an unexpected danger. A 
disguised boatman, sent by Typhon, tries to al- 
lure him from the way. He discovers the vil- 
lainy of his enemy and drives away the boatman, 
heaping upon him deserved reproaches. The 
right boat is found. The boatman now exam- 
ines him, to see if he is qualified to make the 
voyage. He acquits himself well in the exami- 
nation. Each part of the boat has become ani- 
mate and found a tongue. To the twenty-three 
parts severally, in answer to as many questions, 
he gives the names and their mystical meanings. 
He is permitted to embark. The boatman takes 
him across the mystic river, and he is in the 
Eiysian fields. Conducted by Anubis through 
many windings of a labyrinth, he is brought to 
the judgment-hall of Osiris to receive his final 
sentence. One hundred and eight chapters have 
been employed in this second part of the work. 
The greatest ordeal is at hand. The soul 
stands in the Hall of Truth. Osiris, the judge, 
is seated on a lofty throne. Forty-two stern 



274 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



assessors are present. Anubis, " the director of 
the weight," brings forth the balance. He 
places in one scale of the balance an image of 
Maat, or Righteous Law, and in the other scale 
a vase containing the virtues or the heart of 
t the deceased. Thoth stands near, watching the 
indicator of the balance, and, pen in hand, is 
ready to write the result in his book. The 
forty-two terrible assessors begin the trial. 




JUDGMENT SCENE. 



Their heads are chiefly those of animals — the 
lion, the jackal, the hawk, the ram, the croco- 
dile, the hippopotamus. They live by catching 
the wicked, feeding upon their blood, and devour* 
ing their hearts. Each bearing a mystical name, 
questions him in turn. He is obliged to tell the 
name of each assessor and its mystical meaning. 
Their names reveal their character: "Eyes of 
Flame," " Breath of Flame," " Cracker of Bones," 
"Devourer of Shades," " Swallower," "Eater of 



"WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE." 275 

Hearts/' and so on. He must also answer, in a 
presence so august, questions most searching 
concerning his life, and to declare his innocence 
of certain classes of sins. To the assessors 
severally he proclaims his blameless life : " I 
have not blasphemed ; I have not deceived ; I 
have not stolen ; I have not slain any one treach- 
erously ; I have not been cruel to any one ; I 
have not caused disturbance; I have not been 
idle ; I have not been drunken ; I have not issued 
unjust orders ; I have not been indiscreetly cu- 
rious ; I have not multiplied words in speaking ; 
I have struck no one ; I have caused fear to no 
one ; I have not eaten my heart through envy ; 
I have not reviled the face of the king nor the 
face of my father ; I have not made false accu- 
sations ; I have not kept milk from the mouth 
of sucklings ; I have not caused abortion ; I 
have not ill-used my slaves ; I have not killed 
sacred beasts ; I have not defiled the river ; I 
have not polluted myself; I have not taken the 
clothes of the dead." 

Addressing the awful conclave, he boldly 
says : 

"Let me go. Ye know that I am without 
fault, without evil, without sin, without crime. 
Do not torture me, do not aught against me. I 
have lived on truth ; I have made it my delight 



276 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

to do what men command and the gods ap- 
prove ; I have offered to the deities all the sac- 
rifices that were their due ; I have s:iven bread 
to the hungry and drink to him that was athirst; 

I have clothed the naked with garments 

My mouth and my hands are pure." He also 
declares that he has not hindered the irrigation 
of the soil from the river and canals ; that he 
has never injured the stones for mooring ves- 
sels on the Nile ; that he has never altered pre- 
scribed prayers ; that he has never touched any 
of the sacred property, fished for sacred fish, nor 
stolen offerings from the altar. The great tri- 
bunal listen to his apology. The forty-two as- 
sessors are satisfied with his knowledge ; his 
heart is weighed in the balance. Osiris pro- 
nounces his final sentence ; his home is among 
the blessed. 

Forty chapters, mystical and obscure, de- 
scribe the further progress of the soul. In the 
" boat of the sun " he goes forth through the 
regions of heaven. "Afterwards the Ritual rises 
to a higher poetical flight, even contemplating 
the identification of the deceased with a symbolic 
figure comprising all the attributes of the deities 
of the Egyptian pantheon." The good soul does 
not at once obtain perfect bliss, but is purged of 
his infirmities in a fire guarded by four ape-faced 



" WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE:' 277 

genii ; is the companion of Osiris for three thou- 
sand years ; returns to earth ; enters his former 
body; rises from the dead; and lives again a 
human life. This process is repeated through a 
mystic cycle of years, when at last the soul is 
absorbed into the divine essence. The wicked 
man passes away from the judgment-seat and is 
purified through many transmigrations ; or, if he 
is incorrigible, he becomes the prey of a terrible 
hippopotamus-headed monster, is decapitated by 
Horus, or Smu, on the block of Hades, and is 
finally annihilated. (Lenormant, Ancient History 
of the East, Vol. I, pp. 308-322; Rawlinson, 
History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. I, pp. 140-144, 
327-329.) 

The descent of Ishtar into Hades, revealing, 
as it does, Assyrian ideas concerning a future 
life, is of great importance. We present for 
comparative purposes a part of the account. 

"To Hades, the land whence none return, the land (of 

darkness), 
Istar, daughter of Sin (the moon), her ear (inclined); 
Inclined also the daughter of Sin her ear, 
To the house of darkness, the dwelling of the god Irkalla, 
To the house out of which there is no exit, 
To the road from which there is no return, 
To the house from whose entrance the light is taken, 
The place where dust is their nourishment and their food 

mud. 



278 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Light is never seen, in darkness they dwell. 

Its chiefs also are like birds covered with feathers, 

Over the door and bolts is scattered dust. 

Istar, on her arrival at the gate of Hades, 

To the keeper of the gate, a command she addressed : 

Keeper of the waters, open thy gate, 

Open thy gate that I may enter. 

If thou openest not the gate that I may enter, 

I will strike the door, the bolts I will shatter, 

I will strike the threshold aud will pass through the doors; 

I will raise up the dead to devour the living, 

Above the living the dead shall exceed in numbers. 

The keeper opened his mouth and speaks, 

He says to the princess Istar : 

Stay, lady, thou dost not glorify her; 

Let me go and thy name repeat to the queen Allat. 

The keeper descended, and says to Allat: 

This water (of life) thy sister Istar (comes to seek), 

The queen of the great vaults (of heaven) . 

Allat on hearing this says: 

Like the cutting off of the herb has (Istar) descended 

(into Hades), 
Like the lip of a deadly insect (?) she has . . 
What will her heart bring me (i. e. matter to me), what 

will her anger (bring me)? 
(Istar replies:) This water with (my husband) 
Like food would I eat, like beer would I drink. 
Let me weep over the strong who have left their wives, 
Let me weep over the handmaids who (have lost) the 

embraces of their husbands. 
Over the only son let me mourn, who ere his days are 

come is taken away. 
(Allat says:) Go keeper, open thy gate to her, 
Bewitch her also according to the ancient rules. 



"WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE." 279 

The keeper went and opened his gate : 

Enter, O lady, let the city of Cutha receive thee; 

Let the palace of Hades rejoice at thy presence. 

The first gate he caused her to enter and touched her, 

He threw down the great crown of her head. 

Why, O keeper, hast thou thrown down the great crown 

of my head ? 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order. 
The second gate he caused her to enter and touched her, 
He threw away the ear-rings of her ears. 
Why, keeper, hast thou thrown away the ear-rings of 

my ears ? 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order. 
The third gate he caused her to enter and touched her, 
He threw away the necklace of her neck. 
Why, keeper, hast thou thrown away the necklace of my 

neck? 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order. 
The fourth he caused her to enter and touched her, 
He threw away the ornaments of her breast. 
Why, keeper, hast thou thrown away the ornaments of 

my breast? 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order. 
The fifth gate he caused her to enter and touched her, 
He threw away the gemmed girdle of her waist. 
Why, keeper, hast thou thrown away the gemmed girdle 

of my waist? 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order. 
The sixth gate he caused her to enter and touched her, 
He threw away the bracelets of her hands and her feet. 
Why, keeper hast thou thrown away the bracelets of my 

hands and my feet? 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order. 
The seventh gate he caused her to enter and touched her, 



280 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

He threw away the covering robe of her body. 

Why, keeper, hast thou thrown away the covering robe 

of my body. 
Enter, O lady, of Allat thus is the order." 
(Smith, The Chaldsean Account of Genesis, pp. 239-242.) 

Thus stripped of all covering, she enters the 
abode of the dead, and must meet the judgment 
of the god of the shades. 

Two small fragments from another source re- 
fer also to a future life and the felicities of the 
blest : 

" Wash thy hands, purify thy hands. 
Let the gods, thine elders, wash their hands, purify their 

hands. 
Eat sacred food from sacred plates. 
Drink sacred water from sacred vessels. 
Prepare thyself for the judgment of the king of the son 

of his god." 

• • • • ■ • • • 

"They have put there the sacred water. 
The goddess Anat, the great spouse of Anu, 
Will cover thee with her sacred hands. 
The god Iau will transport thee into a place of delights, 
He will transport thee into a place of delights. 
He will place thee in the midst of honey and butter. 
He will pour into thy mouth reviving water; 
Thy mouth will be opened for thanksgivings." 

(Halevy, Records of the Past, Vol. XI, pp. 161, 162.) 



XXL 



>lp ]Ixaim$* 



24 



281 



XXI. 

KNOWING the silence of Oriental nations 
concerning defeats in battle and all great 
calamities, no one would look for any truthful 
account of the exode of the Israelites in con- 
temporary documents. But such a blow to the 
power of the Pharaohs could not be forgotten. 
Traditions lingered in Egypt down during the 
centuries, and were gathered up by ancient 
writers and preserved for modern comparisons. 
Chaeremon professed to haA r e composed a his- 
tory of Egypt. He relates how that Amenophis 
had a dream in which Isis appeared to him and 
rebuked him because her temple had been over- 
thrown in war. The sacred scribe, Phritiphan- 
tes, told him that if he would free the country 
of all polluted persons, he would be freed from 
these terrors. He, therefore, drove two hundred 
and fifty unclean persons out of Egypt. Their 
leaders were Moyses and Josephus, whose Egyp- 
tian names were Tisithene and Peteseph. As might 
have been expected, the account is distorted, but 
yet possesses real value. 

283 



284 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

We quote from Diodorus Siculus : " There 
having arisen in former days a pestiferous dis- 
ease in Egypt, the multitude attributed the cause 
of the evil to the Deity; for a very great con- 
course of foreigners of every nation then dwelt 
in Egypt, who were addicted to strange rites in 
their worship and sacrifices; so that, in conse- 
quence, the due honors of the gods fell into dis- 
use. Whence the native inhabitants of the land 
inferred that, unless they removed them, there 
would never be an end of their distresses. They 
immediately, therefore, expelled these foreigners ; 
the most illustrious and able of whom passed 
over in a body (as some say) into Greece and 
other places, under the conduct of celebrated 
leaders, of whom the most renowned were Danaus 
and Cadmus. But a large body of the people 
went forth into the country which is now called 
Judea, situated not far distant from Egypt, being 
altogether desert in those times. The leader of 
this colony was Moses, a man very remarkable 
for his great wisdom and valor. When he had 
taken possession of the land, among other cities, 
he founded that which is called Jerusalem, which 
is now the most celebrated." 

From Lysimachus the following fragment has 
been preserved : " He says that in the reign of 
Bocchoris, king of Egypt, the Jewish people, 



THE EXODUS. 285 

being infected with leprosy, scurvy, and sundry 
other diseases, took shelter in the temples, 
where they begged for food ; and that, in 
consequence of the vast number of persons 
who were seized with these complaints, there 
arose a famine in Egypt. Upon this Boccho- 
ris, king of the Egyptians, sent persons to in- 
quire of the Oracle of Ammon respecting this 
scarcity, and the god directed him to cleanse 
the temples of all polluted and impious men, and 
to cast them out into the desert, but to drown 
those who were affected with the leprosy and 
scurvy, inasmuch as their existence was displeas- 
ing to the Sun ; then to purify the temples, 
upon which the land would recover its fertility. 
When Bocchoris had received the oracle he 
assembled the priests and attendants of the 
altars, and commanded them to gather together 
all the unclean persons and deliver them over to 
the soldiers to lead them forth into the desert; 
but to wrap the lepers in sheets of lead, and 
cast them into the sea. After they had drowned 
those afflicted with the leprosy and scurvy, they 
collected the rest and left them to perish in the 
desert. But they took counsel among them- 
selves, and when night came on they lighted up 
fires and torches to defend themselves, and fasted 
all the next night to propitiate the gods to save 



286 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

them. Upon the following day a certain man, 
called Moyses, counseled them to persevere in 
following one direct way till they should arrive 
at habitable places, and enjoined them to hold no 
friendly communication with men, neither to fol- 
low those things which men esteemed good, but 
such as were considered evil ; and to overthrow 
the temples and altars of the gods as often as 
they should meet with them. When they had 
assented with these proposals they continued 
their journey through the desert, acting upon 
those rules, and, after severe hardships, they at 
length arrived at a habitable country, where, 
having inflicted every kind of injury upon the 
inhabitants, plundering and burning the temples, 
they came at length to the land which is now 
called Judea, and founded a city and settled 
there. This city was named Hierosyla, from 
their (plundering and sacrilegious) disposition. 
But in after times, when they acquired strength 
to obliterate the reproach, they changed its name, 
and called the city Hierosolyma, and themselves 
Hierosoly mites. " 

Artabanus preserves other details, following 
the Mosaic account, and yet with a few varia- 
tions. The authenticity of his account is much 
to be suspected, and, hence, we do not produce 
it here. An interesting chapter is preserved 



THE EXODUS. 287 

also by Trogus Pompeius from Justin. (Cory, 
Ancient Fragments, pp. 142-148 ; 78-82.) 

The consideration of these fragments is most 
instructive. We can not but note the Egyptian 
coloring throughout. We learn that the He- 
brews were an abomination in the eyes of the 
Egyptians, and are represented as cursed with 
leprosy, scurvy, and other vile diseases, so as to 
pollute the whole land and offend the gods. 
They are represented as driven out into the 
desert. The main facts of the Exodus are not 
concealed under this disguise. The traditions 
are such as we might expect, and possess their 
own weight in these discussions. 

A document has been translated by M. Cha- 
bas which may, perhaps, refer to the Exodus : 
"Notice ! when my letter reaches you, bring the 
Madjai at once, who were over the foreign Safkhi 
who have escaped. Do not bring all the men I 
have named in my list. Give attention to this. 
Bring them to me to Takhu, and I will admit 
them and you." The " Takhu" was a fortress on 
the eastern frontier, and the letter may have 
been a recall of the troops who had watched the 
wall of defense while the Hebrews were advanc- 
ing in that direction. 

The great Harris Papyrus describes the con- 
dition of the country after the calamity of the 



288 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Exodus : " The population of Egypt had broken 
away over the borders, and among those who 
remained there was no commanding voice for 
many years. Hence Egypt fell under dynasties 
which ruled the towns. One killed the other in 
wild and fated enterprises. Other disasters suc- 
ceeded, in the shape of years of famine. Then 
Aarsu, a Syrian, rose among them as prince, and 
the whole land did him homage. One leagued 
with the other and plundered the magazine, and 
the very gods acted as men did." 



XXII. 



* 



tmt& 



>{p jSifoam |tmripfott+ 



25 



289 



XXII. 

THE MOABITK STONE. 

" 1\ /TESHA. king of Moab, was a sheep-mas- 
1VJL ter, and rendered unto the king of Israel 
an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred 
thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to 
pass when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab 
rebelled against the king of Israel." (2 Kings 
iii, 4, 5.) The kings of Moab had been tributary 
for one hundred and forty-four years, but now 
the opportunity being favorable, threw otf the 
yoke. Jehoram, son of Ahab, in alliance with 
the kings of Edom and Judah, went, though with 
some hesitation, to meet the rebel king in battle. 
The allied army laid siege to the chief city, Di- 
bon. Mesha was in despair, and upon the walls 
offered his eldest son as a sacrifice to the supreme 
divinity, Chemosh. Deliverance came not, and 
the king fled. The Moabites were only aroused, 
and the allies withdrew and returned to their 
own land. "It is a campaign full of character- 
istic incidents. The mighty sheep-master on the 

291 



292 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

throne of Moab, with his innumerable flocks — 
the arid country through which the allied forces 
have to pass — the sudden apparition of the prophet 
and the minstrel in the Israelitish army — the 
red light of the rising sun, reflected back from 
the red hills of Edom — the merciless devasta- 
tion of the conquered territory, apparently at 
the instigation of the rival Edomite chief — the 
deadly hatred between him and the king of 
Moab — the terrible siege of the royal fortress 
of Kir-haraseth, closing with the sacrifice of the 
heir to the throne, and the shudder of indigna- 
tion which it caused — bring before us, in a 
short compass, the threads of the history of 
these rival kingdoms, each marked by its pe- 
culiar traditions and local circumstances, be- 
yond any other single event of this period." 
(Stanley, History of the Jewish Church, Second 
Series, p. 430.) 

Jehoram was wounded in a battle with the 
Syrians, and when recovering and seated in his 
chariot was slain with an arrow by Jehu, the 
fiery usurper of his throne. This was forty years 
after the accession of Omri. Fifty-eight years 
after the battle of Dibon "bands of the Moab- 
ites" invaded the land. (2 Kings xiii, 20.) Be- 
fore reading the inscription, the forty-eighth 
chapter of Jeremiah should be read. It con- 



THE MOABITE STONE. 293 

tains "the Judgment of Moab." We should 
also read the fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of 
Isaiah. Dibon, in its extensive ruins, is " dreary 
and featureless." 

The Moabite Stone was discovered by Rev. 
F.' Klein, of the Church Missionary Society, in 
August, 1868. It was found "quite within the 
old city walls, and near what, we presnme, was 
the gate-way, close to where the road has crossed 
it." (Tristram, The Land of Moab, p. 148.) 
The greed of the Arabs and, perhaps, also their 
superstition nearly deprived the world of this 
unique treasure. The Moabites, "sooner than 
give it up, put a fire under it and threw cold 
water on it, and so broke it, and then distributed 
the bits among the different families to place in 
the granaries, and act as blessings upon the corn; 
for they said that without the stone (or its equn T - 
alent in hard cash) a blight would fall upon their 
crops." Squeezes had been taken by M. Gan- 
neau and Captain Warren, and from these the 
text has been restored. The pieces were also 
gathered and purchased at great cost. The lan- 
guage is a dialect allied to the Hebrew. The 
stone was erected by Mesha about B. C. 890. 
Its three parts follow in sections with references 
to Scripture passages, which it serves to illus- 
trate. The translation is that of Christian D. 



294 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Grinsburg, LL. D., as published in the "Records 
of the Past :" 

"I, Mesha (2 Kings iii, 4-27), am son of 
Chemoshgad, king of Moab, the Dibonite (Joshua 
xiii, 9; Numbers xxxii, 34). My father reigned 
over Moab thirty years (B. C. 926-896), and I 
reigned after my father. And I erected this 
stone to Chemosh at Korcha, (a stone of) (sali- 
vation (1 Samuel vii, 12), for he saved me from 
all despoilers, and let me see my desire upon all 
my enemies. Now Om(r)i, king of Israel, he op- 
pressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry 
with his l(a)nd. His son succeeded him, and he 
also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he 
said : (Let us go) and I will see my desire on 
him and his house; and Israel said, I shall de- 
stroy it forever. Now Omri took the land Me- 
deba (Numbers xxi, 29, 30; Joshua xiii, 9; 
Isaiah xv, 2), and (the enemy) occupied it (in 
his days and in) the days of his sons, forty years. 
And Chemosh (had mercy) on it in my days ; 
and I built Baal Meon (Numbers xxxii. 38; 
Ezekiel xxv, 9), and made therein a ditch, 
and I (built) Kirjathaim (Numbers xxxii, 37 ; 
Ezekiel xxv, 9; Jeremiah xlviii, 1, 23). For 
the men of Gad dwelled in the land (Atar)oth 
from of old, and the k(ing of I)srael fortified 
A(t)aroth (Numbers xxxii, 34), and I assaulted 



THE MOABITE STONE. 295 

the wall and captured it, and killed all the war- 
riors of) the wall, for the well-pleasing of Che- 
mosh and Moab; and I removed from it all the 
spoil, and (offered) it before Chemosh in Kirjath 
(Jeremiah xlviii, 24, 41; Amos ii, 2); and I 
placed therein the men of Siran and the me(n 
of) Mochrath. And Chemosh said to me: Go, 
take Nebo (Numbers xxxii, 3) against Israel. 
(And I) went in the night, and I fought against 
it from the break of dawn till noon, and I took 
it, and slew in all seven thousand (men, but I 
did not kill) the women (and ma)idens, for (I) 
devoted (them) to Ashtar-Chemosh ; and I took 
from it (the ves)sels of Jehovah and offered them 
before Chemosh. And the king of Israel forti- 
fied) Jahaz (Isaiah xv, 4 ; Jeremiah xlviii, 
1-25 ; Numbers xxi, 23 ; Deuteronomy ii, 32 ; 
Joshua xiii, 18 ; Judges xi, 20 ; 1 Chronicles vi, 
78; Joshua xxi, 36; Jeremiah xlviii, 21, 34), 
and occupied it when it made war against me ; 
and Chemosh drove him out before (me, and) I 
took from Moab two hundred men, all its poor, 
and placed them in Jahaz, and took it to annex 
it to Dibon." (Dibon means here a district 
which takes its name from the town.) 

Here is recorded his war with the king of 
Israel, in which he earned deliverance from the 
oppressor. The following, to the thirty-first line 



296 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

of the inscription, celebrates the public works 
undertaken by Mesha : 

" I built Korcha, the wall of the forest, and 
the wall of the city, and I built the gates thereof, 
and I built the towers thereof, and I built the 
palace, and I made the prisons for the crim(inal)s 
with (in the) wall. And there was no cistern in 
the wall of Korcha, and I said to all the people, 
Make for yourselves every man a cistern in his 
house. And I dug the ditch for Korcha with 
the (chosen) men of (I)srael. I built Aroer 
(Joshua xiii, 15, 16 ; 2 Kings x, 33 ; 1 Chron- 
icles v, 8; Jeremiah xlviii, 19) and I made the 
road across the Arnon; I built Beth-Bamoth 
(Numbers xxi, 19 ; Isaiah xv, 2 • Numbers xxii, 
41; Joshua xiii, 17), for it was destroyed; I 
built Bezer (Deuteronomy iv, 43; Joshua xx, 8; 
xxi, 36; 1 Chronicles vi, 78; 1 Maccabeans v, 
26, 36), for it was cu(t down) by the armed men 
of Dibon (Numbers xxi, 30; xxxii; Joshua xiii, 
9 ; Isaiah xv, 2 ; Jeremiah xlviii, 18, 22), for all 
Dibon was now loyal; and I reign(ed) from Bik- 
ran, which I added to my land, and I bui(lt) 
Beth-Gamel, and Beth-Deblathaim (Jeremiah 
xlviii, 22), and Beth-Baal-Meon (Joshua xiii, 
17), and I placed there the p(oor people of) 
the land." 

The third part of the inscription gives his 



THE MOABITE STONE. 297 

successful war against the Edomites which he 
undertook at the command of Chemosh. 

"And as to Horonaim (Isaiah xv, 5; Jere- 
miah xlviii, 3, 5, 34), (the men of Edom) dwelt 
therein (on the descent from of old). And Che- 
mosh said to me : Go down, make war against 
Horonaim, and ta(ke it. And I assaulted it). 
(And I took it for) Chemosh, (restored i)t in my 
days. Wherefore I ma(de) . . . year . . . 
and I . . ." 

The name of Jehovah is given as "Yaveh." 
There was no superstition at that time which 
prevented the true pronunciation of the most 
holy name of God. The number of passages of 
Scripture which find their confirmation in this 
short inscription is most remarkable. Not all 
the references which might be given are noticed 
in connection with the translation, but a suffi- 
cient number to show the great importance of 
this rare document. The successful revolt of 
King Mesha, his building enterprises, and his 
hatred toward the Edomites are well expressed-. 
The worship of Chemosh and Ashtar, and the 
mention of the complex divinity Ashtar-Chemosh, 
together with the bloody sacrifice of the heir to 
the throne, are in true Canaanitish spirit. The 
names Chemoshgad, Dibon, Israel, Omri, Medeba, 
Baal-Meon, Kirjathaim, Gad, Ataroth, Kirjath, 



298 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Nebo, Jahaz, Aroer, Arnon, Beth-Bamoth, Bezer, 
Beth-Diblathaim, Beth-Baal-Meon, Horonaim, and 
others, are full of instruction. The historical, 
biographical, and geographical material furnished 
by the inscription is accurate. Dibon appears 
as Dimon in Isaiah xv to connect the name with 
clam, "blood." Korcha, the modern Kerak, is 
called Kir of Moab and Kir-haresh or Kir-ha- 
reseth by Isaiah, and Kir-heres by Jeremiah. 
In the book of Kings we have the form Kir- 
haras eth. 

The deliverance of Moab may have been in 
the reign of Ahaziah, the successor of Ahab. 
Joram, the successor of Ahaziah, was driven out 
of Jahaz, which lay on the southern side of 
Arnon. But then Joram and his allies ravaged 
Moab, and besieged Mesha in his capital of Kor- 
cha. At that time Mesha sacrificed his eldest 
son on the walls of his stronghold. 

" The Moabite Stone shows us what were 
the forms of the Phoenician letters used on the 
eastern side of the Jordan in the time of Ahab. 
The forms employed in Israel and Judah on the 
western side could not have differed much ; and 
we may, therefore, see in these venerable char- 
acters the precise mode of writing employed by 
the earlier prophets of the Old Testament. This 
knowledge is of great importance for the cor- 



THE SILOAM INSCRIPTION. 299 

rection and restoration of corrupt passages, and 
more especially of proper names, the spelling of 
which has been deformed by copyists." (Sayce, 
Fresh Light from the Monuments, pp, 95, 96.) 

THE SIIvOAlVE INSCRIPTION. 

Hebrew inscriptions have been very rare. A 
few fragments from the neighborhood of the Pool 
of Siloam, and a few seals are all that we have 
possessed. These are brief and of uncertain age. 

Mr. Schick, a German architect, has been 
long settled in Jerusalem. In the Summer of, 
1880 one of his pupils was playing in the Pool 
of Siloam and fell into the water. When he 
rose he noticed what appeared to be letters on 
the rock of the southern wall of the channel. 
This was reported to Mr. Schick, who visited 
the spot and discovered an ancient inscription. 
He made a very imperfect copy and sent it to 
Europe, but it was without meaning. Professor 
Sayce made a good copy early in 1881, and soon 
afterwords Dr. Guthe secured a more complete 
facsimile. 

This pool, both the ancient and the modern, 
is supplied with water from the Fountain of the 
Virgin bv means of a tunnel cut through the 
ridge which forms the southern part of the 



300 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Temple Hill. This tunnel, according to the meas- 
urements of Lieutenant Conder, is 1,7-08 yards 
in length, or but little less than a mile. It does 
not, however, run in a straight line, and near the 
center there are two culs de sac. These the in- 
scription explains. The work of excavation be- 
gan simultaneously at the two ends, but the 
workmen did not meet in the middle. As they 
came near together they heard the noise of hew- 
ing, each by the other party, as they w 7 ere pass- 
ing, The small partition between them was then 
pierced, and the water flowed through. The 
culs de sac represent the extreme points reached 
by the two companies of excavators before they 
discovered that they were passing by one an- 
other. We may now read the translation of the 
inscription : 

"(Behold) the excavation! Now this is the 
history of the excavation. While the excava- 
tors were still lifting up the pick, each towards 
his neighbor, and while there were yet three 
cubits to (excavate, there was heard) the voice 
of one man calling to his neighbor, for there was 
an excess in the rock on the right hand (and on 
the left). And after that, on the day of excav- 
ating, the excavators had struck pick against pick, 
one against the other, the w T aters flowed from 
the spring to the pool for the distance of 1,200 



THE SILO AM INSCRIPTION. 301 

cubits. And (part) of a cubit was the height 
of the rock over the head of the excavators." 

Hezekiah "stopped the upper watercourse of 
Grihon, and brought it straight down to the west 
side of the city of David," and " he made a pool 
and a conduit, and brought water into the city." 
(2 Chronicles xxxii, 30; 2 Kings xx, 20.) The 
Fountain of the Virgin is the only natural spring 
near Jerusalem, and the object was to seal up 
this fountain, and by a tunnel conduct the waters 
into the city. The pool may have been still 
older. Isaiah speaks of "the waters of Shiloah 
that go softly." (Isaiah viii, 6.) This may 
allude to this tunnel. It has been even thought 
that it is as old as the reign of Solomon. (Sayce, 
Fresh Light from the ancient Monuments, pp. 
97-105.) 



XXIII. 



%mmtm mth Jfylfetop*, 



303 



XXIII. 

THE Hebrews believed that when God was 
angry with the sins of the people he vis- 
ited upon them famines and pestilences as pun- 
ishments for their wickedness. These were vis- 
itations of wrath for national sins. They were 
removed upon repentance and humiliation. The 
prophet Gad, at the command of God, said unto 
David because of his sin : " Shall seven years of 
famine come unto thee in thy land? or w r ilt thou 
flee three months before thine enemies, w T hile 
they pursue thee? or that there be three days 
pestilence in thy land ? now advise, and see what 
answer I shall return to him that sent me. And 
David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait : let 
us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his 
mercies are great ; and let me not fall into the 
hand of man. So the Lord sent a pestilence 
upon Israel from the morning even to the time 
appointed ; and there died of the people from 
Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men. 
And when the angel streiched out his hand 
upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented 

26 305 



306 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

him of the evil, and said to the angel that de- 
stroyed the people, It is enough, stay now thine 
hand. . . . The Lord was entreated for the 
land, and the plague was stayed from Israel." 
(2 Samuel xxiv, 13-16, 25.) "The angel of 
the Lord" destroyed the army of Sennacherib. 
(2 Kings xix, 35.) The thought is familiar to 
the Bible student. 

Babylonian legends speak of scourges which 
desolated the world in olden times to lead men 
to repentance. The legend, in epic form, which 
relates the exploits of Dibbarra, the god of pest- 
ilences, dates back to, at least, 1600 B. C. His 
companions and ministers are Itak, the fire of 
fever personified, and "seven warrior gods." The 
poem has been translated by G. Smith, and pub- 
lished in his " Chaldsean Account of Genesis." 
To punish men for the corruption they had 
brought into the world, the gods Anu and Ea 
send Dibbarra to smite them with his scourge. 
This angel of pestilence has the title "the dark- 
ening one," and may be compared with "the 
pestilence that walketh in darkness " of Psalm 
xci, 6. There were five tablets of this epic, only 
the fourth of which has been preserved in com- 
parative completeness. The first column of the 
fourth tablet is presented : 

" . . . Dibbarra is crouching at his gate 



FAMINES AND PESTILENCES. 307 

among the corpses of chiefs and slaves ; Dibbarra 
is crouching at his gate; thou knowest his seat. 
Babylon their foes besieged, and their curse art 
thou." It was, then, some oppressive war which 
brought upon Babylon the scourge. The poem 
continues : "To the floor thou didst trample them 
and thou didst make a passage, warrior Dib- 
barra. Thou didst leave the land, thou didst go 
forth against others ; the destruction of the nobles 
wast thou made, ancl thou didst descend into the 
palace. The people also saw thee ; their weapons 
were shattered. The high-priest, the avenger of 
Babylon, sets his heart, when the ranks of the 
enemies to spoil he urges on his soldiers. Before 
the face of the people they did evil. To that 
city whither I shall send thee, thou a man shalt 
not fear, shalt not respect a man. Small and great 
as one man cast down, and of that evil race thou 
shalt not save any one. The collection of the 
goods of Babylon thou spoilest ; the people of 
the king (which) is gathered together, and en- 
tered into the city, shaking the bow, planting 
the sword (?) of the soldiers the help, the trans- 
gression (transgressors) against Anu and Dagon, 
their weapons thou plantest, their corpses like 
the pouring down of rain thou dost cast down in 
the streets of the city, and their treasures (?) 
thou openest and dost sweep into the river," 



308 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Dibbarra devastates Larsa, the city of the 
sun-god, and Uruk, and Kuti. He spares Kalu, 
in answer to the prayer of its protecting deity, 
because of the righteousness of its inhabitants. 
At Kuti he stops and prophesies terrible intes- 
tine wars which shall set "sea against sea, Su- 
bartu (Syria) against Subartu, Assyria against 
Assyria, Elam against Elam, Kosssean against 
Kosssean, Sutu against Sutu, Gutium against 
Gutium, Lullubu against Lifflubu, country against 
country, house against house, man against man, 
brother against brother." The people of Akkad 
shall be preserved, and at length be able to 
repair the injury done. Itak is sent to scourge 
Syria. The fifth tablet ends : " Whoever the 
glory of my heroism shall recount, an adversary 
never may he have. The musician who shall 
sing, shall not die by the chastisement ; higher 
than king and prince may that man ascend. The 
tablet writer who studies it (and) flees from the 
hostile, shall be great in the land. If in the 
places of the people, the established place, my 
name they proclaim, their ears I open. In the 
house, the place where their goods are placed, 
if I, Dibarra, am angry, may the seven gods turn 
him aside, may the chastising sword not touch 
him whose face thou establishest. That song 
forever may they establish, and may they fix the 



FAMINES AND PESTILENCES. 309 

part; . . . may all the world hear and 
glorify my heroism ; may the men of all nations 
see, and exalt my name." (Smith, The Chal- 
dsean Account of Genesis, pp. 125-139 ; Lenor- 
mant, Beginnings of History, pp. 400, 401.) 
The Semitic poetic parallelisms are evident in 
the translation. 

The famine brought upon the land because 
of the sins of Ahab is familiar. It also has its 
counterpart in a tablet of six columns translated 
by G. Smith. The sin for which this famine is 
sent may be of a social character. Bel says : 
"In their stomach let famine dwell, above let 
Rimmon drink up his rain, let him drink up below, 
let not the flood be carried in the canals, let it 
remove from the field its inundations, let the corn- 
god give over increase, let blackness overspread 
the corn, let the plowed fields bring forth thorns, 
let the growth of their fruit perish, let food not 
come forth from it, let bread not be produced, let 
distress also be spread over the people, may favor 
be shut up, and good not be given." And it was 
so. Rain is at last sent again in answer to the 
prayer of righteous Atarpi. (Smith, The Chal- 
daean Account of Genesis, pp. 155-158.) 

Wild beasts were also instruments of punish- 
ment in Israel. A lion slew the prophet who 
failed to obey the command of the Lord (1 



310 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



Kings xiii, 19-30), and bears tore the children 
who mocked Elisha. (2 Kings ii, 23, 24.) Sav- 
age beasts were among the scourges of Baby- 
lonia, and their ravages were predicted in the 
astrological tablets. The possibility of disinter- 
ested virtue with no earthly reward, and often in 
the face of repeated temporal calamities, was not 
often considered. The question is solved in the 
Book of Job in majestic style, but it is not 
fully graspgd until Gospel times, and even then 
only by the few. Nevertheless, had we a divine 
interpreter, we might learn that even in the 
present age calamities may be connected with 
moral causes and conditions. 



XXIV. 



\nvt ®fo Jittumiate* 



311 



XXIV. 

IT would not have been expected that Phoeni- 
cian inscriptions, so few in number and so 
brief in details, would present points in contact 
with the Old Testament, but so it is. Witnesses 
start up on every hand and proclaim the truth- 
fulness of the Bible records. The names of 
Phoenician gods found in the Bible are preserved 
on the monuments. The tablet of Marseilles 
discovered in 1845, near the ancient temple of 
Diana, is a rare public document which fixes the 
prices of various sacrificial victims. Baal is the 
chief god, and the ox, the steer, the kid, the 
lamb, the waterfowl, and the bird are the offer- 
ings. An honorary portion of the ox was pre- 
sented to the god. This sacred portion is cut 
and roasted, "but the skin and the loins and the 
feet and the remnants of the flesh are for the 
master of the sacrifice." (Kenrick, Phoenicia, 
pp. 175, et seq.) The passages from the Poenu- 
lus of Plautus have a few unimportant religious 
references. These are Carthaginian, and yet true 
to the spirit of the mother cities, Tyre and Sidon. 

27 313 



314 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



The Marseilles document is worthy of pres- 
entation in this connection : 

"In the temple of Baal (the following tariff 
of offerings shall be observed), which was pre- 
scribed (in the time of) the judge. . . . Baal, 
the son of Bod-Tanit, the son of Bod-(Ashmun, 
and in the time of Halzi-Baal), the judge, the son 
of Bod-Ashmun, the son of Halzi-Baal and (their 
comrades) . For an ox as a full-offering, whether it 
be a prayer-offering or a full thank-offering, the 
priests (shall receive) ten shekels of silver for each 
beast, and if it be a full-offering the priests shall 
receive besides this (three hundred shekels' weight 
of flesh). And for a prayer-offering they shall 
receive (besides) the small joints (?) and the 
roast (?), but the skin and the haunches and the 
feet and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the 
offerer. For a bullock which has horns, but is 
not yet broken in and made to serve, or for a 
stag as a full- offering, whether it be a prayer- 
offering or a full thank-offering, the priests (shall 
receive) five shekels of silver (for each beast, 
and if it be a full-offering) they shall receive 
besides this one hundred and fifty shekels' 
weight of flesh ; and for a prayer-offering the 
small joints (?) and the roast (?) ; but the skin 
and the haunches and the feet (and the rest of 
the flesh shall belong to the offerer). For a 



RARE OLD DOCUMENTS. 315 

sheep or a goat as a full- offering, whether it be a 
prayer-offering or a full thank-offering, the priests 
(shall receive) one shekel of silver and two 
zar for each beast; and in the case of a prayer- 
offering they shall have (besides this the small 
joints [?] ) and the roast (?) ; but the skin and 
the haunches and the feet and the rest of the 
flesh shall belong to the offerer. For a lamb or 
a kid or a fawn as a full- offering, whether it be 
a prayer-offering or a full thank-offering, the 
priests (shall receive) three-fourths of a shekel 
of silver and (two) zar (for each beast ; and in 
the case of a prayer-offering they shall have) 
besides this the small joints (?) and the roast (?) ; 
but the skin and the haunches and the feet and 
the rest of the flesh shall belong to (the offerer). 
For a bird, whether wild or tame, as a full-offer- 
ing, whether it be shetseph or /chazuth, the priests 
(shall receive) three-fourths of a shekel of silver 
and two zar for each bird ; and (so much flesh be- 
sides). For a bird, or for the offering of the first- 
born of an animal, or for a meal-offering, or for an 
offering with oil, the priests (shall receive) ten 
pieces of gold for each. ... In the case of 
every prayer-offering which is offered to the gods, 
the priests shall receive the small joints (?) and the 
roast (?) and the prayer-offering, . . . for a 
cake and for milk and for fat, and for every 



316 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

offering which is offered without blood. . . . 
For every offering which is brought by a poor 
man in cattle or birds the priests shall receive 
nothing. . . . Any thing leprous or scabby 
or lean is forbidden, and no one as regards that 
which he offers (shall taste of) the blood of the 
dead. The tariff for each offering shall be ac- 
cording to that which is prescribed in this pub- 
lication. ... As for every offering which 
is not prescribed in this table, and is not made 
according to the regulations which (have been 
published in the time of . . . Baal, the son 
of Bod-Tanit), and of Bod-Ashmun, the son of 
Halzi-Baal, and of their comrades, every priest 
who accepts the offering which is not included 
in that which is prescribed in this table, shall be 
punished. ... As for the property of the 
offerer who does not discharge (his debt) for his 
offering (he also shall be punished)." 

Some of the words which are wanting in 
the Marseilles ritual have been supplied from a 
second copy found among the ruins of Carthage. 
It will be seen that under Greek influence the 
sacrifice of children, once belonging to the wor- 
ship of Baal, has been abandoned. Phoenician 
texts have been found on the island of Cyprus 
written in red and black ink on pieces of marble. 

One of these contains an account of the dis- 



RARE OLD DOCUMENTS. 317 

bursements made by the priests of a temple on 
particular days, and illustrates so many Biblical 
allusions, that, though very imperfect, it is worthy 
of a place in our work. On the first face we 
read : 

"Expenses of the month Ethanim: On the 
new-moon of the month Ethanim, for the gods 
of the new-moon, two . . . For the architects 
who have built the temples of Ashtoreth, for 
each house, . . . For the guardians of the 
sanctuary and the overseers of the temple of 
Resheph, twenty . . . For the men (who 
tend) the cattle in the presence of the Holy 
Queen on this day, . . . For two boys, 
two . . . For two sacrifices, . . . For two 
bakers who have baked the cakes for the (Holy) 
Queen, . . . For the barbers, for their work, 
two . . . For the ten masons who have 
built the foundations and the temples of the sun- 
god, ... To Ebed-Ashmun, the principal 
scribe, who has been sent on this day, three . . . 
For the dogs and their young, . . ." On 
the other face we have: "On the new-moon of 
the month Peulat: For the gods of the new- 
moon, two . . . For the masters of the days, 
incense and peace offering, . . . For the 
images of the temple of the sun-god and the other 
gods, . . . For Ebed-Bast of Carthage, . . . 



318 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

For the man who has brought the withered plants 
(?)... For the shepherds of the country, 
two . . . For the 'almath and the twenty- 
two 'alamoth, with a sacrifice, . . . For the 
dogs and their young, three 

Resheph is the sun-god, and the name still 
survives in Arsuf, a ruined town to the north of 
Jaffa. Concerning the cakes baked to Ashtoreth, 
" the holy queen," we may read in the prophet : 
"And when we burned incense to the queen of 
heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, 
did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour 
out drink offerings unto her without our men?" 
(Jeremiah xliv, 19; cf. verses 15-18.) Con- 
cerning the dogs and barbers consult Deuter- 
onomy xxiii, 18; Leviticus xix, 27; xxi,5. The 
'almath was the chief singer attached to the tem- 
ple service, and the 'alamoth were other singers 
similarly employed. The " masters of the days " 
were the gods who presided over the months. 
The month Ethanim, which is the seventh month, 
is mentioned in connection with the building of 
the temple of Solomon. (1 Kings viii, 2.) 
(Sayce, Fresh Light from the Ancient Monu- 
ments, pp. 79-84.) 

King Esmunazar lived in the fourth century 
before Christ. We present the translation of 
the inscription on the sarcophagus, discovered 



RARE OLD DOCUMENTS. 



319 



near the ruins of Sidon in 1855, as rendered by 
Professor Julius Oppert: 

" In the month of Bui, in the fourteenth year 
of the royalty of King Esmunazar, king of the 
two Sidons, son of King Tabnit, king of the two 
Sidons, King Esmunazar, king of the two Sidons, 
said as follows : 

" I am carried away, the time of my non- 
existence has come, my spirit has 
disappeared like the day, from 
whence I am silent, since which 
I became mute. 

"And I am lying in this cof- 
fin, and in this tomb, in the place 
which I have built. 

" thou (reader), remember 
this : May no royal race and no 
man open my funeral couch, and 
may they not seek after treas- 
ures, for no one has hidden treasures here; nor 
move the coffin out of my funeral couch; nor 
molest me in this funeral bed by putting another 
tomb over it. Whatever a man may tell thee, 
do not listen to him, for the punishment (of the 
violators) shall be : Every royal race and every 
man who shall open the covering of this couch, 
or shall carry away the coffin where I repose, 
or who shall molest me in this couch, they shall 




Sarcophagus of 

Esmunazar. 



320 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

have no funeral couch with the Rephaim, nor 
shall be buried in graves, nor shall there be any 
son or offspring to succeed to them, and the sa- 
cred gods shall inflict extirpation on them. 

" Thou, whoever (thou art, who wilt) be king 
(hereafter), inspire those over whom thou wilt 
reign, that they may exterminate the members 
of the royal race (like those men) who will open 
the covering of this couch, or who will take away 
this coffin, and (exterminate) also the offspring 
of this royal race, or of these men of the crowd. 
There shall be to them no root below, nor fruit 
above, nor living form under the sun. 

" For graced by the gods, I am carried away, 
the time of my non-existence has come, my spirit 
has disappeared like the day, from whence I am 
silent, since which I became mute. 

" For I, Esmunazar, king of the two Sidons, 
son of King Tabnit, king of the two Sidons, (who 
was) the grandson of King Esmunazar, king of 
the two Sidons ; and my mother, Amastarte, the 
priestess of Astarte, our mistress, the queen, the 
daughter of King Esmunazar, king of the two 
Sidons; it is we who have built the temple of 
the gods, and the temple of Astaroth, on the 
seaside Sidon, and have placed there the image 
of the Astaroth, as we are sanctifiers (of the 
gods.) And it is we who have built the temple 



RARE OLD DOCUMENTS. 321 

of Esmun, and the sanctuary of the Purpleshells 
River on the mountain, and have placed there 
his image, as we are sanctifiers (of the gods). 
And it is we who have built the temples of the 
gods of the two Sidons, on the seaside Sidon, 
the temple of Baal-Sidon, and the temple of As- 
tarte, who bears the name of this Baal. 

" May in future the lords of the kings give 
us Dora and Japhia, the fertile corn-lands, which 
are in the plain of Saron, and may they annex 
it to the boundary of the land, that it may be- 
long to the two Sidons forever. thou, remem- 
ber this : May no royal race and no man open 
my covering, nor deface (the inscription of) my 
covering, nor molest me in this funeral bed, nor 
carry away the coffin where I repose. Otherwise, 
the sacred gods shall inflict extirpation on them 
and shall exterminate this royal race and this 
man of the crowd and their offspring forever." 
(Oppert, Records of the Past, Vol. IX, pp. 
111-114.) 

Here the names of Baal, Astarte, and Asta- 
roth are prominent in the Phoenician worship. 
The Rephaim are mentioned in the Psalms 
(lxxxviii, 11). The passage "I am carried 
away," which is repeated, Oppert considers a 
quotation from an ancient funeral hymn. The 
burden of the inscription is anxiety as 'to the 



322 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

care of the body after death, and a true Semitic 
curse is pronounced upon any man who may dis- 
turb the ashes of the departed. Besides Sid on, 
other proper names are Dora, Japhia (Joppa), 
and Saron. 

The lid of the coffin on which the inscription 
is found "is wrought in the form of a mummy, 
with the face uncovered, and having a counte- 
nance and costume of a decided Egyptian type. 
The features are large and prominent, the fore- 
head is rather low, the eyes almond-shaped, but 
full and protruding, the nose broad and flat, 
the lips thick, the chin quite short, and the 
ears too large and conspicuous for beauty. A 
pleasant expression is over the countenance, 
and the execution of the whole work is de- 
cidedly superior to any thing of the kind in 
this country. On each shoulder is a bird, and 
something depends from the chin like a beard, 
but it probably belongs to the headdress, which 
resembles that seen on Egyptian mummy cases. 
The lid, and consequently the figure upon it, is 
too wide for symmetrical beauty. It is four 
feet broad, and only about seven in length. 
The material is black sienite, intensely hard, 
and retains an excellent polish. The inscription 
is in twenty-two long lines, and the letters, 
though not cut deep, are in good preservation, 



RARE OLD DOCUMENTS. 323 

and easily read." (Thomson, The Land and the 
Book ; Central Palestine and Phoenicia, p. 643.) 

From the ancient Phoenician historiographers 
we meet with important confirmations. From 
Dius we read : 

" Upon the death of Abibalus, his son Hiromus 
(Hiram) succeeded to the kindom. He raised 
the eastern parts of the city, and enlarged it, and 
joined to it the temple of Jupiter Olympius (the 
Baal of Tyre), which stood before upon an 
island, by filling up the intermediate space ; and 
he adorned that temple with donations of gold ; 
and he went up into Libanus (Lebanon), to cut 
timber for the construction of the temples. And 
it is said that Solomon, king of Jerusalem, sent 
enigmas to Hiromus (Hiram), and desired others 
in return, with a proposal that whichsoever of the 
two was unable to solve them should forfeit money 
to the other. Hiromus (Hiram) agreed to the 
proposal, but was unable to solve the enigmas, and 
paid a large sum as a forfeit. And it is said that 
one Abdemonus, a Tyrian, solved the enigmas, 
and proposed others which Solomon was not able 
to unriddle, for which he repaid the fine to Hiro- 
mus (Hiram)." 

Menander writes to the same point. He 
says that Hiram reigned thirty- four years, and 
died at the age of fifty -three. He names Eth- 



324 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

baal, who began to reign in B. C. 932, and 
reigned thirty-two years. He was priest of As- 
tarte, and his fierce daughter Jezebel became the 
wife of Ahab, king of Judah. (Cory, Ancient 
Fragments, pp. 27-29.) 

Eupolemon, another authority who draws 
from native sources, confirms the history of Da- 
vid by a distinct mention of his chief conquests. 
The Tyrian chronology agrees with that of the 
Bible, and Tyrian histories witness the construc- 
tion of the temple by Solomon, and date the 
event B. C. 1007. They also mention certain 
letters preserved in the Tyrian archives — letters 
which passed between Solomon and Hiram. 
They further relate that Solomon took one of 
the daughters of Hiram to wife. (1 Kings xi, 1.) 
The exchange of riddles between Hiram and Solo- 
mon reminds us of the "hard questions" with 
which the queen of Sheba sought to "prove" 
Solomon (1 Kings x, 1), and the forfeits illus- 
trate the proceedings of Samson. (Judges xiv, 
12-19.) (Rawlinson, Historical Illustrations of 
the Old Testament, pp. 110, 111.) 

We may compare from another source the 
following riddle, which a wise man puts to 
the gods : 

"The clothing of the god . . . 
What in the house is (fixed) . . . 



HARE OLD DOCUMENTS. 325 

What in the secret place is . . 

What is in the foundation of the house . 

What on the floor of the house is fixed, what . 

What the lower part . ■ . 

What by the sides of the house goes down . . . 

What in the ditch of the house broad ingitstsi . 

What roars like a bull, what brays like an ass, 

What flutters like a sail, what bleats like a sheep, 

What barks like a dog, 

What growls like a bear," 

The remainder of the riddle is too anomalous 
for translation. 

"Then Lugal-girra (Nergal) heard the wise 
word the son of the people asked, and all the 
gods he urged (to solve it) : Let your solution 
be produced, that I may bring back your an- 
swer." The passages which follow are so much 
broken that they fail to submit to translation. 
The answer to the riddle can be none other than 
air or wind. (Smith, The Chaldsean Account of 
Genesis, p. 159.) 

An inscription on a bronze vase discovered 
at Cyprus, and originally belonging to Syria, 
contains the the name of Hiram, "king of the 
Sidonians." Solomon calls Hiram's subjects Si- 
donians. (1 Kings v, 20.) He was called 
"king of Tyre," perhaps, because his residence 
was in that city. Ethbaal, in the Bible, is 
"king of the Zidonians." (1 Kings xvi, 31.) In 



326 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the bronze vase inscription there is mention of 
a god — Baal-Lebanon. Whether the Hiram of 
this inscription is the same as the contemporary 
of Solomon may yet admit of question. (Pales- 
tine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, 
1880, July, pp. 174-181. C. Clermont-Ganneau.) 






XXV. 



>lp« JUgtjjtfom ^ing$* 



327 



XXV. 

HpHE Egyptian and Assyrian historic records 
X are most fragmentary, and deal with foreign 
nations only when celebrating kingly conquests. 
The proud, self-sufficient Oriental monarch never 
acknowledges a defeat. It is either passed over 
in silence or proclaimed as a victory. Self- 
glorification, under the name of "service" to the 
gods, seems to be his leading, if not his only, 
motive. Extravagance of language, endless repe- 
titions of titles, and consummate assurance are 
prominent everywhere. 

The historic portions of the Bible do not 
pretend to fullness of treatment. The religious 
history of a single people, we might say of but 
a single family, is set before the student, while 
political events are made subordinate. Hence 
points of contact with Gentile nations are few 
and incidental. This being the plan and spirit 
of Biblical and monumental records, we are agree- 
ably surprised to find that they have so much in 
common. When the monuments shall have re- 
vealed all their literary secrets, much more 

28 329 



330 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



can be said upon this part of the subject than 
at present. 

The Shishak of Scripture is Shashanq I, 
king of Egypt and founder of the twenty-second 







HEAD OF SHESHONK I (SHISHAK). 

dynasty. He is the son of the Assyrian king, 
Mmrod, who met his death in Egypt, and was 
buried at Abydus. 

Jeroboam rebelled against King Solomon, 
and being designated by the prophet Abijah as 



THREE EGYPTIAN KINGS. 331 

the future sovereign of the ten tribes of Israel, 
he fled from the face of his royal master, and 
came to the court of Shishak. After the death 
of Solomon he was recalled and elected to the 
throne of Israel while Rehoboam, Solomon's son, 
became king of Judah. 

It is probable that it was at the request of 
Jeroboam that Shishak invaded the kingdom of 
Judah "with twelve hundred chariots and three- 
score thousand horsemen • and the people were 
without number that came with him out of 
Egypt; the Lubim, the Sukkiim, and the Ethi- 
opians, and he took the fenced cities which per- 
tained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. 
So Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against 
Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the 
house of the Lord, and the treasures of the, 
king's house ; he took all ; he carried away also 
the shields of gold which Solomon had made." 
(2 Chronicles xii, 3, 4, 9 ; 1 Kings xi, xii, xiii.) 

On the wall of the great temple of Karnak, 
at Thebes, there is an outline of this campaign. 
The Egyptian king is represented holding with 
his left hand thirty-eight captive Asiatic chiefs 
whom he has seized by the hair of the head, 
and threatens with a club wielded with his right 
hand. In long rows of embattled shields are 
the names of one hundred and thirty-three con- 



332 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

quered towns and districts. Among these are 
many familiar names, such as Taanach, Shunem, 
Adullam, Mahanaim, Gibeon, Bethhoron, Ajalon, 
Megiddo, Edom, and Judah-malek — " Judah- 
king," by which name Jerusalem may have been 
intended. Of the ninety names which are legi- 
ble, forty or forty-five may be identified with 
Palestinian and neighboring towns. The peoples 
subdued are called " the 'Am of a distant land," 
equivalent to the Hebrew 'Am, which signifies 
a people," and designates especially "the people 
of Israel and their tribes." There are also 
Fenekh or Phoenicians. 

Here, then, we have a remarkable confirma- 
tion of Scripture, in that the first Egyptian king 
mentioned by his own native name in the Bible 
has left a record of his conquests in Palestine, 
which we may most satisfactorily compare with 
the accounts of the authors of Kings and Chron- 
icles. The name of the kine, the date of the 
conquest, and the names of captured cities cor- 
respond most completely. 

" The army with which Sheshonk invaded 
Palestine is more numerous than we should have 
anticipated, and some corruption in the numbers 
may be suspected. It is composed, however, 
exactly as the monuments would have led us to 
expect, almost wholly of foreign mercenaries 



THREE EGYPTIAN KINGS. 333 

(2 Chronicles xii, 3), Libyans, Ethiopians, and 
others. The Egyptian armies at this time con- 
sisted, for the most part, of Maxyes and other 
Berber tribes from the north-west, and of Ethi- 
opians and negroes from the south. Sheshonk, 
who was himself of foreign descent, placed far 
more dependence on these foreign troops than 
on the native Egyptian levies." (Rawlinson, 
Egypt and Babylon, pp. 261, 262.) 

Esarhaddon, " the fierce king," had defeated 
the enterprising monarch Tirhakah, king of 
Egypt and Ethiopia, and had appointed kings 
and governors in the midst of Egypt. (Cf. 
Isaiah xix.) Tirhakah rebelled against his mas- 
ter, killing and plundering until he came to 
Memphis, where he again assumed all the in- 
signia of royalty. Assurbanipal, son of Esar- 
haddon — B. C. 665 — now on the Assyrian throne, 
heard of this defection of his s.ubject and his suc- 
cessful revolt. Gathering his forces he marched 
towards Egypt, and twenty-two tributary kings 
kissed his feet as he passed through their terri- 
tories. Tirhakah collected a great army, and 
sent it against his mighty foe. We now let the 
inscriptions speak. 

"With invocations to Asur, Sin (the Moon- 
god), the great gods, my lords, I ordered the 
onslaught of my forces. In a fierce battle they 



334 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

put them to flight, and conquered with arms the 
men who served him (lit. of his service). Fear 
and terror seized him and he turned back. He 
escaped from Memphis, the city of his kingdom, 
the place of his honor, and he fled away in 
ships to save his life (lit. soul). He left his 
tent standing and withdrew himself alone and 
came to Ni (the ' great city,' " i. e. Thebes), and 
gave orders to his men of battle to embark on 
all the ships and barks (?) that were with him, 
and he commanded the men set over the 
barks (?).... I gathered together the com- 
mander of the satraps of the cities beyond the 
river, the servants faithful before me, them and 
their garrisons, their ships, the kings of Egypt, the 
servants faithful before me, and their garrisons 
and their ships, in order to drive out Tarquu 
from Egypt and Ethiopia. I sent them against 
Thebes, the city of the empire of Tarquu, the 
king of Ethiopia. They went a journey of a 
month and ten days. Tarquu, when he heard 
of the approach of my army, left Thebes, the 
city of his empire, and went up the river. My 
soldiers made a slaughter in that city. (Na- 
hum iii, 8.) 

"Nikuu (Necho), Sarludari, Paakruru, whom 
my father had made satraps, sinned against the 
commandments of Asur and the great gods ? my 






THREE EGYPTIAN KINGS. 



335 



lords, and did not keep to their treaties (with 
him). They despised the glory of my father, 
and hardened their hearts to enmity; they de- 
vised a plan of rebellion, and sinned willfully 
{lit. of themselves) against their flesh, speaking 
thus : ' Tarquu will not go back from his designs 
upon Egypt; he is 
afraid, and do ye 
all watch over your 
safety (?)' They sent 
their envoys to Tar- 
quu, king of Ethio- 
pia, to make peace 
and friendship, 
( speaking ) thus : 
' Let peace be made 
in our league, and 
let us be friendly to each other. On this side 
(*. e. on our part) we pledge our faith ; from no 
other quarter shall there be a breach in our 
alliance, our Lord.' They tried to entice into 
their league the whole army of Asur, the guards 
of my dominion; they prepared what their re- 
venge desired . . . My judges heard of their 
designs, and derided their cunning. They inter- 
cepted their envoys with the letters, and per- 
ceived the work of their treason. They bound 
those kings hand and foot in fetters." 




HEAD OF TIRHAKAH. 



336 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Necho is carried away a prisoner to Nineveh, 
but obtains his pardon of Assurbanipal and was 
restored to his government with presents. 

"Costly garments I placed upon him, orna- 
ments of gold; his royal image I made for him, 
bracelets of gold I fastened upon his limbs, a 
steel sword — its sheath of gold, in the glory of 
my name, more than I write I gave him. Char- 
iots, horses, and mules for his royal riding I ap- 
pointed him ; my generals as governors, to assist 
him, with him I sent. The place where the 
father, my begetter, in Sais to the kingdom had 
appointed him, to his district I restored him." 
(Brugsch, Egypt under the Pharaohs, Vol. II, 
pp. 265 et seq.) 

"After all this, when Josiah had prepared 
the temple, Necho, king of Egypt came up to 
fight against Carchemish by Euphrates, and Jo- 
siah went out against him." A battle was fought 
in the plain of Megiddo, and Josiah was mortally 
wounded. (2 Chronicles xxxv, 20-24.) 

This was Necho II, the grandson of the king 
who fought against Assurbanipal. There is but 
slight mention of his name on the monuments. 
(Brugsch, Egypt under the Pharaohs, Vol. II, 
p. 296.) The battle of Megiddo is not men- 
tioned, but Egyptian and Assyrian history makes 
it probable, and approximately fixes the date. 



XXVI. 



r IL 



29 337 . 



XXVI. 

SHALMANESER II (B. C. 858-823), gives a 
full history of his Palestinian campaign. The 
author of these annals seems to have been, in a 
literary sense at least, as measured by modern 
taste, a very genius of stupidity. The dullness 
of the records is worthy of all admiration. Our 
interest in these monumental writings must be 
frequently sustained by the absence of every 
literary feature which could sustain an interest. 
We are amazed at an exhibition of literary imbe- 
cility so complete, as the best which Assyria 
could afford when the glorious deeds of her il- 
lustrious kings were to be commemorated. The 
historic annals stand at the climax of all dull- 
ness. They exceed in this respect all imitations. 
There are, however, various degrees of stupidity 
in historic writing characterizing different peri- 
ods in Assyrian history. We are compelled to 
transpose some of the words in this account to 
make it approximate English intelligibility. 

"I departed from the Euphrates and ap- 
proached the city of Khalman. They feared to 

339 



340 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



join battle and embraced my feet. I received 
as their tribute silver and gold. I offered sac- 
rifices before the air-god of the city of Khalman. 
I departed from Khalman and approached to 




ASSYRIAN KING. 



two cities of Irkhuleni of the country of Hamath. 
I took the cities of Adennu, Barga, and Argana 
his royal city, and caused to be brought out his 
spoil, his riches, and the furniture of his palaces. 



SHALMANESER IT. 341 

I set fire to his palaces, and departing from Ar- 
gana approached the city of Karkara. The city 
of Karkara, the city of his majesty, I threw 
down, dug up, and burned with fire. 

"Twelve hundred chariots, twelve hundred 
magazines, and twenty thousand men of Rini- 
mon 'hidri (Ben-hadad — the name signifies "the 
son of Hadad," the supreme deity of Damascus) 
of Damascus ; seven hundred chariots, seven 
hundred magazines, and ten thousand men of 
Irkhuleni of Hamath ; two thousand chariots, 
and ten thousand men of Ahab (Akkabbu) of the 
country of the Israelites ; five hundred men of 
the Guites ; one thousand men of the country of 
the Egyptians ; ten chariots, and ten thousand 
men of the country of the Irkanatians ; two hun- 
dred men of Matin-Baal of the city of the Arva- 
dites ; two hundred men of the country of the 
U'sanatians ; thirty chariots and ten thousand 
men of Adoni-Baal of the country of the Sizani- 
ans; one thousand camels of Gindibri'ah of the 
country of the Arbayans ; two hundred men of 
Bah'sa, the son of Rukhubi, of the country of 
the Ammonites ; these twelve kings brought help 
to one another, and came to make war and battle 
against me. Through the high powers which 
Assur, the lord, gave, through the mighty weap- 
ons which Nergal (who goes before me) furnished, 



342 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



I fought with them. I made a destruction of 
them from the city of Karkara to the city of 
Gilza'u. I slew with my weapons fourteen thou- 
sand of their troops. Like the air-god, I poured 
a deluge over them. With their flight I filled 
the surface of the waters. I laid low all their 
host with weapons. The area of the district 
failed to contain all their corpses. To give a 

preservation of their 
lives to the people, an 
enormous multitude of 
them to their fields^ I 
distributed among the 
men of the land. I 
reached the river Oron- 
tes, close upon its banks. 
In the midst of this bat- 
tle I took away from 
them their chariots, 




their 



and 



Syrian Captives Enslaved. tfteir magazines, 

their horses trained to the yoke." (Sayce, Rec- 
ords of the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 99, 100.) Shal- 
maneser had previously battled among " the up- 
per (cities) of Palestine" and by "the sea of 
the setting sun." (Sayce, Records of the Past, 
Vol. Ill, p. 89.) Here he received tributes, set 
up his image, and cut fir and cedar on the moun- 
tains of Amanus. 



SHALMANESER II. 



343 



The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser contains 
an account of his first expedition : 

"In my first year I crossed the Euphrates 




**>&* ' V 



THE BLACK OBELISK. 

in its flood. I went to the sea of the setting- 
sun. I rested my weapons on the sea. I took 
victims for my gods. I went up to Mt. Amanus 
and cut logs of cedar-wood and pine-wood. I 



344 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

ascended to the country of Lallar. I erected an 
image of my royalty in the midst of it." In his 
sixth year we read : " I crossed the Euphrates 
in its upper part. I received the tribute of all 
of the kings of the Hittites. In those days 
Rimmon-idri of Damascus, Irkhulina of Hamath, 
and the kings of the Hittites and of the sea- 
coast trusted to the forces of each other, and 
came against me to make war and battle. By 
the command of Assur, the great lord, my lord, 
I fought with them and made a destruction of 
them. I took from them their chariots, their war- 
carriages, and their war-material, and slew with 
arrows twentv thousand five hundred of their 
fighting men." (Sayce, Records of the Past, 
Vol. V, pp. 30, 32.) " 

Following the annals we again read : "In my 
eleventh year I crossed the Euphrates for the 
ninth time. I captured cities to a countless 
number. I went down to the cities of the Hit- 
tites of the land of the Hamathites. I took 
eighty-nine cities. Rimmon-idri of Damascus 
and twelve of the kings of the Hittites strength- 
ened themselves with one another's forces. I 
made a destruction of them." (Sayce, Records 
of the Past, Vol. V, pp. 33, 34.) The fourteenth 
and eighteenth campaigns were against these 
same enemies. 



SHALMANESER II 345 

"In my fourteenth year the whole of the 
country without number I collected ; I crossed 
the river Euphrates with one and twenty thou- 
sand of my warriors. In those days Ben-hadar 
of Syria, Irhulini of Hamath, and the kings be- 
side the sea, above and below, collected their 
warriors without number and came to my pres- 
ence. I fought with them and accomplished 
their overthrow. I brought out their chariots 
and their carriages, and I took from them their 
weapons of war. They fled to save their lives." 
We do not hear of Ben-hadad after this cam- 
paign. Hazael takes his place. "In the eight- 
eenth year, the sixteenth time, I crossed the 
river Euphrates. Hazael of Syria trusted to the 
might of his warriors and gathered his warriors 
in numbers. He made as a stronghold Saniru, 
a peak of the mountains which are in front of 
Lebanon. I fought with him and accomplished 
his overthrow. I destroyed eighteen thousand 
of his army with weapons, and took from him 
eleven hundred and twenty-one of his chariots, 
and four hundred and seventy of his carriages. 
To save his life he fled. I pursued him and 
besieged him in Damascus, his royal city. I cut 
down his plantations. I went to the mountains 
of Hauran. I pulled down, destroyed, and 
burned in the fire cities without number. I car- 



346 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



ried off their spoil without number. I went to 

the mountains of Bah- 
lirasi, which are at 
the head of the sea. I 
made an image of my 
majesty in the midst. 
In those days I re- 
ceived the tribute of 
Tyre and Sidon, and 
of Jehu, son of Omri." 
(Rule, Oriental Rec- 
ords,Monumental, pp. 
143-145.) 
His nineteenth cam- 
o paign brought him to 
the land of Amanus, 
where he cut logs of 
cedar ; and in his 
twenty-first campaign 
he went to the cities 
of Hazael and took 
four of his fortresses, 
and received tribute 
of the Tyrians, the 
Zidonians, and the 
Grebalites. (Sayce, 
Records of the Past, 

Vol. Y, pp. 34, 35.) " The tribute of Yahua, 




SHALMANESER II. 347 

son of Khumri — silver, gold, bowls of gold, 
vessels of gold, goblets of gold, pitchers of gold, 
lead, scepters for the king's hand, (and) staves — 
I received." (Sayce, Records of the Past, Vol. 
V, p. 41.) 

The sculptures represent the chief ambassa- 
dor of the Israelites prostrating himself before 
the Assyrian king, and Israelitish ambassadors 
bearing their tribute. (Rawlinson, Ancient Mon- 
archies, Vol. I, p. 502 ; Vol. II, p. 105.) These 
fragments of history are entirely consistent with 
the history of Judea, Samaria, and Syria, as re- 
corded in the sacred writings. 

The death of Shalmaneser brought peace to 
Damascus and Palestine. Hazael and his suc- 
cessor, Ben-hadad III, ravaged Israel (2 Kings 
xiii, 3) ; but Jeroboam II avenged himself upon 
the Syrians, and the coasts of Israel were re- 
stored "from the entering of Hamath unto the 
sea of the plain." 

And now Rimmon-nirari (B. C. 810-781), 
grandson of Shalmaneser, again reduced Da- 
mascus. Its king, Marih, successor of Ben-hadad 
III, after undergoing a siege in the capital, was 
glad to submit to the Assyrian, and gave him 
two thousand three hundred talents of silver, 
twenty talents of gold, three thousand talents of 
copper, five thousand talents of iron, embroi- 



348 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

dered robes and clothes of fine linen, a couch 
inlaid with ivory, and an ivory parasol, besides 
the treasures and furniture, without number, 
which his palace contained. Rimmon - nirari 
seems also to have received tribute from Tyre 
and Sidon, Beth-Omri, Edom, and Palastu, which 
probably included the country of the Philistines 
and the kingdom of Judah. (Sayce, Fresh 
Light from the Ancient Monuments, p. 125.) 



XXVII. 



wj^-Jfam IL 



549 



XXVII. 

AFTER the death of Rimmon-nirari the crown 
was seized by a military adventurer, who 
founded a new dynasty, and assumed the title of 
Tiglath-Pileser II (B. C. 745-727). He was 
the founder of the second Assyrian Empire, 
and cemented the nations together, appointed 
satraps to govern the various provinces, and fixed 
an annual tribute to be paid into the imperial 
treasury. 

Two years after his accession to the throne 
he besieged Arpad, now Tel-Erfad, near Aleppo, 
which was taken after a siege of three years. 
Hamath was shattered, and nineteen of its dis- 
tricts were placed under Assyrian governors. 
The Jewish king, Azri-yahu or Azariah (Uzziah), 
an ally of Hamath, was punished and compelled 
to pay tribute. Two years after the fall of 
Aspad, Tiglath-Pileser again invaded the West, 
and took tribute from Rezin, of Damascus, Mena- 
hem of Samaria, Hiram of Tyre, and the kings 
of Gebal, Carchemish, Hamath, and other places — 

"gold, silver, lead, iron, skins of buffaloes, horns 

351 



352 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

of buffaloes, vestments of wool and linen, tapes- 
tries of blue and purple, strong wood, wood for 
weapons, slave-girls, treasures of royalty, the 
skins of sheep, their wool of purple dye, birds 
of the sky, their wing-feathers of bright blue, 
horses, horses for the yoke of large size, oxen, 
sheep and droves of camels, together with their 
young ones." (Records of the Past, Vol. V, 
pp. 48, 49.) 

The Bible says that the tribute was given 
to Pul. Ptolemy gives a list of Babylonian 
kings with the length of their reigns from the 
era of Nabonassar, B. C. 747, down to the time 
of Alexander the Great. In this list Tiglath- 
Pileser, after his conquest of Babylon, is named 
Poros or Por. Por would be the Persian form 
of Pul. This may have been the king's name 
before he assumed his regal title. During the 
reign of Menahem Israel remained tributary to 
Assyria. After the death of Menahem his son, 
Pekahiah was murdered, and Pekah usurped the 
throne. Pekah, in alliance with Rezin of Da- 
mascus, attacked Judah with the intention of 
overthrowing the existing dynasty and placing a 
vassal upon the throne. Jotham died, and his 
successor, Ahaz, not able to stand against the 
powerful alliance, appealed to Tiglath-Pileser, 
and placed himself under his protection as a 



TIOLA TH-PILESER II 



353 



tributary. The king of Assyria was glad of an 
excuse for another campaign against the powers 
of the West, and, in B. C. 734, marched into 
Syria. Rezin was defeated, his chariots broken, 
his captains captured and impaled, and he him- 
self, having fled to Damascus, was shut up by 
the enemy. The territory was devastated with 
fire and sword, the gardens destroyed, and the 
trees cut down. Leaving a force to prosecute 




FINAL ASSAULT OF DAMASCUS. 

the siege of the city the Assyrian king marched, 
against Israel, and Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh 
were carried into captivity. The king took Ijon, 
and Abel-be th-maachah, and Janoah, and Ka- 
desh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and carried the 
inhabitants captive to Assyria. (2 Kings xv, 
29.) After a mighty campaign, in which he 
reduced all the nations of the West, Tiglath- 
Pileser returned and took Samaria, put Pekah to 
death, and seated Hosea upon the throne. He 

30 



354 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

seems then to have punished Edom and the 
queen of the Arabs, who had joined in the Israel- 
itish league. Damascus fell in B. C. 732, Rezin 
was slain, and his subjects carried into captivity. 
Tiglath-Pileser, after reigning gloriously, died 
in B. C. 727. 

Shalmaneser IV succeeded to the throne, and 
Hosea refusing to pay the annual tribute, the 
new monarch invaded the West. Tyre was be- 
sieged, but without success, Hosea carried away 
captive, and Samaria blockaded for three years. 
During this blockade Shalmaneser died, and one 
of the Assyrian generals seized the crown and 
assumed the name of Sargon. 



XXVIII. 



iargtm*— 5teljfrrir+ 



365 



XXVIII. 

THE capture of Samaria took place in the 
first year of Sargon (B. C. 722), and twenty- 
seven thousand two hundred and eighty of its 
inhabitants were sent into exile and settled in 
Halah not far from Haran in Mesopotamia on 
the banks of the Habor or Khabour and the 
cities of the Medes, while some years later their 
places were supplied from Hamath, and Cuthah, 
Sepharvaim, and other cities of Babylonia. 

Hamath had revolted under Yahu-bihdi or 
Ilu-bihdi; and Arpad, Damascus, and Samaria 
had followed the example. Sargon captured 
Ilu-bihdi in the cit}' of Aroer and flayed him 
alive, and Hamath received a colony of four 
thousand three hundred Assyrians. Samaria was 
next punished. Sargon then met the combined 
forces of Khanum of Gaza and Sabako or So of 
Egypt on the field of Ra.phia and defeated them. 
Khanum was taken. 

Both Manetho and the Egyptian records give 

Shabak as the name of a king of Egypt who 

belonged to the twenty-fifth dynasty. The k is 

357 



358 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the suffixed article. The name means "male- 
cat-the." The Hebrews dropped the article mak- 
ing Shab " male-cat." Changing b to v 9 a frequent 
change, and vocalizing b thus making u 9 and once 
more changing the diphthongal au to its equiva- 
lent o 9 and we have So„ with whom an alliance 
was sought by Hosea. — 2 Kings xvii, 4. (Brugsch, 
Egypt under the Pharaohs, Vol. II, pp. 282- 
284.) 

The Assyrian Empire had reached the very 
borders of the kingdom of Judah. To relate the 
history of its conquest by Sargon we must turn 
our eyes to the East. Upon the death of Tig- 
lath-Pileser, Babylonia had thrown off the As- 
syrian yoke, and in B. C. 722 the country was 
occupied by Merodach-Baladan, the son of Ya- 
gina, the hereditary chief of the small tribe of 
the Kalda, settled at the mouth of the Euphrates. 
This new king feared an attack from Sargon, 
and determined to prepare himself to meet his 
powerful enemy. He formed an alliance with 
Elam in the East, and sent ambassadors on a 
secret mission to the West. 

Hezekiah, in the fourteenth year of his reign, 
had recovered from a severe illness (2 Kings, 
xx, 6), and the Babylonian king published to 
the world that the mission of the ambassadors 
was merely to congratulate the king on his mi- 



SARGON.— ASHDOD. 359 

raculous recovery. His real object, however, 
could not be concealed from Sargon. He deter- 
mined to anticipate the movements of the con- 
federates and attack them before their forces 
could unite. 

He invaded Palestine. He battled against 
Ashdod, Edom, Moab, and Judah. This conquest 
of Judah by Sargon explains some hitherto un- 
solved mysteries in the prophets. (Isaiah x and 
xi.) Ashdod was razed to the ground. Its king, 
whom Hezekiah seems to have nominated to the 
throne, fled to Egypt, but was delivered up to 
his enemies. Sargon then turned to the East. 
The Elamites were defeated, and Merodach-Bal- 
adan, driven southward, shut himself up in his 
stronghold Bit-Yagina, which was taken by storm. 
He found no rest until Sennacherib followed him 
to Elam, whither he had fled, and administered 
a crushing defeat in B. C. 697. We return to 
the episode of Ashdod. 

Ashdod was situated about eighteen geograph- 
ical miles north-east of Gaza. It was one of 
the five chief cities of the Philistines, and the 
seat of the worship of Dagon. It stood on a 
hill surrounded by beautiful pasture ground, and 
must have been a place of great strength. 
Azotus is the name it bore in the works of 
classic writers. It is still represented by a few 



360 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

remains in the little village Esdud. It was 
nominally assigned to the territory of Judah, 
and was dismantled by Uzziah. Psammetichus 
could not reduce it until after a siege of 
twenty-nine years. (Herodotus ii, 157.) It was 
important because of its situation on the road 
from Jerusalem to Egypt. "It exported to the 
West the produce of Arabia, brought thither 
from Ezion-Geber, Petra. and the Persian Gulf." 
Always a frontier town, it was we'll fitted for po- 
litical intrigues. Philistia was, at this time, trib- 
utary to Assyria, and yet Azuri, king of Ashdod, 
was friendly to Egypt, the enemy of Assyria. 
Judah and Samaria were also tributary to Assyria. 

Isaiah records the downfall of Ashdod. " In 
the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod (when 
Sargon, the king of Assyria sent him), and 
fought against Ashdod and took it." (Isaiah 
xx, 1 .) Its garrison consisted not only of Ash- 
dodites, but also of Egyptians and Ethiopians. 
(Vs. 4, 5.) This had been the only mention of 
this Assyrian monarch until the discovery of the 
monuments presented the important events con- 
nected with his glorious reign. 

The annals of Sargon furnish an unexpected 
confirmation of this fact of history incidentally 
mentioned by Isaiah. Sargon relates :." In my 
ninth expedition to the land beside the great 



SARGON.—ASHDOD. 361 

sea, I went to Philistia and Ashdod. Azuri, 
king of Ashdod, hardened his heart not to bring 
tribute, and sent enemies of Assyria to the 
kings round him, and did evil. I* broke his do- 
minion over the people round him, and car- 
ried off. . . . From that time Ahimiti, son 
of . his brother, I raised before his face, 

and appointed him over his kingdom. I ap- 
pointed over him taxes and tribute to Assyria 
like that of the kings round him. But the evil 
people hardened their heart not to bring taxes 
and tribute, and revolted against the king, and 
for the good he had done they drove him away, 
and appointed to the kingdom over them Yavan 
(who was) not heir to the throne. They seated 
him on the throne of their lord, and prepared 
their cities to make war . . . they forti- 
fied the dominion against capture ; they faced 
its and excavated a ditch around it 

(i. e. Ashdod). They made it twenty cubits 
(thirty-four feet) in its depth, and brought the 
waters of the springs in front of the city. The 
people of Philistia, Judah, Edom, and Moab, 
dwelling beside the sea, bringing tribute and 
presents to Assur, my lord, were speaking trea- 
son. The people and their evil chiefs carried 
their presents unto Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, 
a monarch who could not save them, and be- 

31 



362 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

sought his alliance to fight against me. I, Sar- 
gon, the noble prince, revering the oath of 
Assur and Merodach, guarding the honor of 
Assur, passed my warriors of my guard over 
the rivers Tigris and Euphrates in their full 
flood. And he, Yavan, their king, who trusted 
in his own might, and did not submit to my do- 
minion, heard of the advance of my expedition 
to the land of the Hittites, and the majesty of 
Assur, my lord, overwhelmed him, and he fled 
away to the border of Egypt, the shore of the 
river at the boundary of Meroe ... he 
took part under the waters ... a place re- 
mote, and his hiding-place was not discovered. 
The cities of Ashdod and Gimzo of the Ashdo- 
dites I besieged and captured. His gods, his 
wife, his sons, and his daughters, his furniture 
and goods, and the treasures of his palace, with 
the people of his country, I counted as a spoil, 
and I built those cities a second time. I seated 
within them people, the conquests of my hands, 
from the midst of the countries of the rising 
sun; and I placed them with the people of As- 
syria, and they performed my pleasure." (Rule, 
Oriental Records, Monumental, pp. 188, 189.) 
This conquest was about 716 B. C. (Isaiah x 
and xi.) How wonderful are the confirmations of 
the Book of God ! 



XXIX. 



tett»ad|itt& i\t ®ig|faj* 



363 



XXIX. 

SENNACHERIB (B. C. 705-681), king of 
Assyria, Sin-akki-irib, a name found in He- 
brew, Assyrian, and Grecian annals, a great 
character in Oriental history, in his pride and 
selfishness calls himself " the great king, the 
powerful king, the king of nations, the king of 
Assyria, the king of the four regions, the dili- 
gent ruler, the favorite of the great gods, the 
observer of sworn faith, the guardian of the law, 
the embellisher of public buildings, the noble 
hero, the strong warrior, the first of kings, the 
punisher of unbelievers, the destroyer of wicked 
men." (Rawlinson, Ancient Monarchies, Vol. 
II, p. 178.) 

His reign, like that of most Oriental mon- 
archs, was inaugurated with troubles at home 
and abroad. Having settled his domestic diffi- 
culties, in B. C. 703 he invaded Babylonia, 
where Merodach-Baladan had revolted upon his 
accession to the throne, defeated the combined 
armies of Babylonians and Susianians in the 
vicinity of Kis, overran Chaldsea, and plundered 

365 



366 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

twenty-six large towns and four hundred and 
twenty villages. Returning, he passed as a 
scourge over the territories of the Middle Euphra- 
tes, inhabited by Aramaean tribes, gathered much 
spoil, and carried into captivity more than two 
hundred thousand of the inhabitants. The next 
year he conquered the tribes of the Zagros. 

Under Hezekiah, Judea had thrown off the 
Assyrian yoke. The Phoenician sta*tes had also 
asserted their independence. Ekron had ban- 
ished her king, Padi, who remained loyal to 
Assyria, and sent him bound in chains to Jeru- 
salem, where he had been received by Hezekiah 
and kept under close ward. 

In B. C. 701, the mighty monarch invaded 
Syria. "Now, in the fourteenth year of King 
Hezekiah, did Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 
come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, 
and took them." (2 Kings xviii, 13.) 

The inscriptions of Sennacherib give the 
details of this campaign : 

" On my third expedition I marched to the 
country of the Chatti. The fear of the glory 
of my supremacy threw down Luli, the king of 
Sidon, and he fled far away into the midst of 
the sea. I brought his land into subjection. 
Greater Sidon, Lesser Sidon, Bit-Zite, Sarepta, 
Machalliba, Ushu, Akzib, Akko, his fortified and 



SENNACHERIB THE MIGHTY. 367 

walled cities, the emporia for food and drink, 
the garrison cities, I threw down with the power 
of the weapons of Assur, my lord, and they 
cast themselves down at my feet. I placed 
Tuba'al upon the throne over them, and imposed 
upon them tax and tribute of my power as 
yearly and regular contributions. 

" Minchimmu, of the city Samsimurun, Tu- 
ba'al of Sidon, Abdilite of Arvad, Unimilki of 
Byblos, Mitinti of Ashdod, Puduil of Bit-Am- 
mon, Kummusunadbi of Moab, Malik (?) ram of 
Edom — all these kings of the western country, 
a far-stretching district, brought their valuable 
presents together with sasu to me, and kissed 
my feet. Zidka, however, the king of Ashkelon, 
who had not submitted to my yoke, together 
with the gods of his paternal house, himself, his 
wife, his sons, daughters, brothers, the family of 
the house of his father, I dragged away and led 
them down to Assyria. Sarruludari, the son of 
Rukibtu, their former king, I put over the inhab- 
itants of Ashkelon ; and I imposed upon him, as 
a submissive servant, the deliverance of the 
tribute and presents for my rule. 

"In the course of my expedition I besieged, 
captured, and plundered the places Bit-Dagan, 
Joppa, Bene-Barak, Azuru, the cities of Zidka, 
which did not at once submit themselves to me. 



368 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

The rulers, the nobles, and the inhabitants of 
Ekron, who had put into iron chains their king, 
Padi, who was obedient to the laws and the oath of 
Assyria, and had delivered him over into the 
hands of Hezekiah of Judea — in a wicked man- 
ner the latter locked him up in a dark cell — these 
began to fear in their hearts. They called to- 
gether the kings of Egypt, the bowmen, wagons, 
the horses of the kings of Ethiopia, warriors 
without number ; and these came to help them. 
In front of the city of Eltekh they drew them- 
selves up against me in battle array, calling out 
their weapons. With the assistance of my lord 
Assur I fought with them and overcame them. 
In the midst of the battle my hands took alive 
the commander of the wagons and sons of the 
king (or of the kings) of Egypt, together with 
the commander of the wagons of the king of 
Ethiopia. I besieged, captured, and plundered 
the cities of Eltekh, Timma. 

" I advanced against the city of Ekron. The 
rulers and nobles who had committed the crime 
I slew, and tied their dead bodies to the pillars 
of the city walls. I led away as captives those 
inhabitants of the city who had committed evil 
and wicked deeds. The rest of them, who had 
not brought upon themselves the curse and 
crime, concerning whom no sin was found, I 



SENNACHERIB THE MIGHTY. 369 

pardoned. I brought away from Jerusalem Padi, 
their king, and placed him on the throne over 
them, and imposed the tribute of my supremacy 
upon him." 

This is the first stage in the great campaign. 
We may almost trace its progress in the prophets. 
He had climbed the passes of Lebanon. His 
chariots rolled along the streams, and his host 
drank up all their waters. He swept the nations 
like a whirlwind. Hezekiah dared not meet the 
enemy, and sent his submission. 

"And Hezekiah, king of Judah, sent to the 
king of Assyria, to Lachish, saying, I have 
offended ; return from me ; that which thou put- 
test on me will I bear. And the king of As- 
syria appointed unto Hezekiah, king of Judah 
three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents 
of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver 
that was found in the house of the Lord, and in 
the treasures of the king's house. At that time 
did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors 
of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars 
which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had overlaid, 
and gave it to the king of Assyria." (2 Kings 
xviii, 14-16.) 

The inscriptions give more of the military 
details of the war, while not dwelling so fully 
on its religious aspects. 



370 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

"But Hezekiah, of Judaea, who had not sub- 
mitted to my yoke, forty-six of his fortified and 
walled cities, and innumerable smaller places of 
his kingdom, I besieged and took by tramping 
down the wall, and by storming them, by bloody 
battle, zu-uh of the feet, by intrigue (?), slaughter, 
kalbannati. Two hundred thousand one hundred 
and fifty inhabitants, small and great, male and 
female, horses, oxen, asses, camels, cattle, and 
domestic animals, without number, I took away 
from them, and accounted them booty. But the 
king himself I inclosed in Jerusalem, his royal city, 
locked in as in a cage. I threw up bulwarks 
against him, and whoever came out of the city 
gate, him I injured. 

"The cities which I had robbed I separated 
from his country, and gave them to Mitinti, king 
of Ashdod, to Padi, king of Ekron, and to Zil- 
bel, king of Gaza, and thus made his country 
small. To the former tax I added tribute and 
presents for my supremacy, and imposed them 
upon him. But the fear of the glory of my su- 
premacy cast him, Hezekiah, down ; and the Ara- 
bians and his friendly disposed subjects, whom 
he had collected for the defense of Jerusalem, 
his royal city, were overpowered with terror. 
Thirty talents of gold, eight hundred talents of 
silver, jewels, guhle dag-gas-si, large gugmd stones, 






SENNACHERIB THE MIGHTY. 371 

ivory boards, ivory chamber-chairs, elephant 
skins and teeth, Ushu and Urkarinu wood, and 
many other articles, a heavy imposition, as 
also his daughters, the women of his palace, 
male lub and female lub, I had taken after me to 
Nineveh, the city of my supremacy ; and for the 
purpose of delivering the tribute, and taking the 
oath of submission, he sent his ambassadors." 
(Delitzsch, Herzog's Real Encyclopadie, Article 
u Sanherib." The Independent , June 5, 1884.) 

Isaiah probably alludes to the desolation v of 
Judaea — Isaiah xxiv. Again th prophet speaks 
and fills out the picture of the siege (Isaiah xxii), 
and prophesies in these words : 

" Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where Da- 
vid dwelt ! Add ye year to year ; let them kill 
sacrifices. Yet I will distress Ariel, and there 
shall be heaviness and sorrow; and it shall be 
unto me as Ariel. And I will camp against thee 
round about, and will lay siege against thee with 
a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. 
And thou shall be brought down, and shalt speak 
out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low 
out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as of one 
that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, 
and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust." 
(Isaiah xxix, 1-4.) 

Having received the submission of Hezekiah 



372 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Sennacherib returned to Nineveh. His second 
campaign in Palestine was probably two years 
later. The occasion was the revolt of Hezekiah 
and his alliance with the king of Egypt. Again 
the Assyrian king advanced to Lachish. He de- 
tached a body of troops from his army and sent 
them under the command of a tartan or general, 
and Rabshakeh, his chief cupbearer, and Rabsaris 
his chief eunuch, to demand the surrender of 
Jerusalem. Hezekiah sent three hii>h officials 
outside the walls to negotiate. Rabshakeh de- 
livered an insulting message, and endeavored to 
raise a tumult in the city. Gaining nothing, the 
Assyrians returned to the king, who had left 
Lachish and gone on to Libnah. Sennacherib 
sent messengers with a letter to Hezekiah, in 
which he reminded him of the nations whom the 
Assyrians had subdued, showed the folly of 
resistance, and urged him to submit. Hezekiah 
spread the letter before the Lord, and Isa- 
iah declared, " Thus saith the Lord, Be not 
afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with 
which the servants of the king of Assyria have 
blasphemed me. Behold I will send a blast upon 
him, and he shall hear a rumor, and shall return 
to his own land ; and I will cause him to fall by 
the sword in his own hand." (2 Kings xix, 
6, 7.) The Assyrian had left Libnah, and had 



SENNACHERIB THE MIGHTY. 373 

pitched his camp against the Egyptian camp at 
Pelusium. " And it came to pass that night that 
the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the 
camp of the Assyrians a hundred four-score and 
five thousand, and when they arose early in the 
morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So 
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, and went 
und returned, and dwelt at Nineveh." (2 Kings 
xix, 35, 36.) 

Great was the deliverance. As it was fore- 
told in prophecy, so it is celebrated in sacred 
song. The army may have been destroyed by a 
pestilence (Isaiah xxxvii, 7), or by a storm 
(Isaiah xxx, 29). 

The monuments give us several points of 
connection with this narrative as related in the 
Bible. Rabshakeh, in the name of his master, 
proudly boasts: "Have the gods of the nations 
delivered them which my fathers have destroyed ; 
as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the chil- 
dren of Eden which were in Thelasar ? Where 
is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, 
and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, 
and Ivah ?" "Behold thou hast heard what the 
kings of Assyria have done to all lands by de- 
stroying them utterly ; and shalt thou be deliv- 
ered ?" (2 Kings xix, 12, 13, 11.) When we 
read the records of the conquests of Assyrian 



374 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

monarchs, making all possible allowance for ex- 
aggeration, we are thoroughly convinced that this 
is no empty boast. The record of the campaigns 
of Sennacherib preceding his wars in Palestine 
presents a long list of names of conquered na- 
tions and captured cities, some of which repre- 
sented the same territory as that here reviewed 
by Rabshakeh. (Talbot, Records of the Past, 
Vol. I, pp. 25-32.) In his first expedition he 
carried into captivity two hundred and eight thou- 
sand people, and in his second "the inhabitants, 
small and great, . . . until none were left." 
Lachish, a strong Phoenician city, is not men- 
tioned in the annals of Sennacherib, in which he 
records his signal victories. There are sculp- 
tured slabs in the British Museum representing 
the siege of a great city " defended by double 
walls with battlements and towers, and by for- 
tified earthworks." Against this the besiegers 
raised siege towers. The defenders " thronged 
the battlements and towers, showering arrows, 
javelins, stones, and blazing torches upon the 
assailants," while the attacking party "poured 
water with large ladles upon the flaming brands 
which threatened to destroy the engines." 
Another bas-relief represents the king seated in 
his magnificent chair of state, while from the 
gateway issues a procession of captives. The king 



SENNACHERIB THE MIGHTY. 



375 



receives them and the immense spoil. Above 
all is the inscription : " Sennacherib, king of na- 
tions, king of Assyria, sitting on his throne, 
causes the spoils of the 
city of Lachish to pass 
before him." Here, cer- 
tainly, is a wonderful 
confirmation of the accu- 
racy of the history of 
the author of Second 
Kings. (Talbot, Rec- 
ords of the Past, Vol. 
I, pp. 35, 36.) 

The destruction of 
the Assyrian army, and 
the consequent retreat 
to Nineveh, are not men- 
tioned in the inscrip- 
tions. Oriental mon- 
arch s record only their 
victories. A tradition of 
this destruction was, 
however, preserved in 
Egypt, and related to Herodotus. Speaking of 
the priest king Sethos, who had offended the 
warrior class, Herodotus says : 

" Afterwards, therefore, when Sennacherib, 
king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched 




Sennacherib on his Throne 



376 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



his vast army into Egypt, the warriors one and 
all refused to come to his aid. On this the 
monarch, greatly distressed, entered into the 
inner sanctuary, and before the image of the god 
bewailed the fate which impended over him. 
As he wept he fell asleep, and dreamt that the 
god came and stood at his side, bidding him be 




'W' 



DEFENSE OF LACHISH. 



of good cheer, and go boldly forth and meet the 
Arabian host, which would do him no hurt, as 
he himself would send those who should help 
him. Sethos, then, relying on the dream, col- 
lected such of the Egyptians as were willing to 
follow him, who were none of them warriors, 
but traders, artisans, and market-people ; and 
with these marched to Pelusium, which com- 
mands the entrance into Egypt, and there pitched 






SENNACHERIB THE MIGHTY. 377 

his camp. As the two armies lay here opposite 
one another, there came in the night a mulitude 
of field-mice, which devoured all the quivers and 
bow-strings of the enemy, and ate the thongs 
by which they managed their shields. Next 
morning they commenced their flight, and great 
multitudes fell, as they had no arms with which 
to defend themselves. There stands to this 
day, in the temple of Vulcan, a stone statue 
of Selh'os, with a mouse in his hand, and 1 
an inscription to this effect, 'Look on me, 
and learn to reverence the gods.'' (Herodotus 
ii, 141.) 

Apollo Smintheus was represented on coins of 
Alexandria Troas with a mouse in his hand, and 
in his temple at Chryse there was a statue with 
a mouse under his foot. The people of Troas 
revered mice, "because they gnawed the bow- 
strings of their enemies." The mouse was a 
symbol of invisible destruction. The Egyptian 
tradition agrees with the Hebrew account that 
the cause of the defeat of the Assyrian army 
was providential and miraculous. 

An English poet has caught the spirit of the 
scene of the overthrow of Sennacherib's army 
so well that it is worthy of quotation : 

" The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 

Aud his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ; 
32 



378 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. 

Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, 
That host with their banners at sunset were seen : 
Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, 
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. 

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, 
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed ; 
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, 
.And their hearts but once heaved, and forever grew still! 

And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, 
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride : 
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, 
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. 

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, 
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail ; 
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone, 
The lances unlifted, the trumpet unblown. 

And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail, 
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal ; 
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, 
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord !" 

(Byron, Hebrew Melodies ; Works, Riverside Edition, Vol. 
I, pp. 199, 200.) 



XXX. 



[sarljniritxim 



379 



XXX. 



"S 



Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed, 
and went, and returned, and dwelt at 
Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was wor- 
shiping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that 
Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, smote him 
with the sword ; and they 
escaped into the land of Ar- 
menia. And Esarhaddon, 
his son, reigned in his stead." 
(2 Kings xix, 36, 37; 
Isaiah xxxvii, 37, 38.) 

Unexpected light is let 
in upon this subject from the 
Assyrian records. Esar- 
haddon was not the eldest 
son of Sennacherib, and was 
not the presumptive heir 
to the throne. He was, however, the favorite 
son of his father, who made a will — the earliest 
will known — leaving for Esarhaddon a treas- 
ure, which was deposited with certain priests of 
Nebo, to be paid over to him after his father's 

381 




NISROCH. 



382 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

death. We present this rare and unique old 
document. 

"I, Sennacherib, king of multitudes, king 
of Assyria, have given chains of gold, stores of 
ivory, a cup of gold, crowns and chains besides, 
all the riches of which there are heaps, crystal 
and another precious stone and bird's stone ; one 
and a half manehs, two and a half cibi, accord- 
ing to their weight ; to Esarhaddon, my son, who 
was afterwards named Assur-ebil-mucin-pal, ac- 
cording to my wish ; the treasure of the temple 
of Amuk and (Nebo)-irik-erba, the harpists of 
Nebo." (Sayce, Records of the Past, Vol. 
I, p. 138.) 

This undisguised favoritism — by the nature 
of the gifts evidently looking towards royalty — 
undoubtedly was one chief cause of the assassi- 
nation. The two sons thought to take advan- 
tage of the absence of Esarhaddon, who com- 
manded the army in the northern confines of the 
empire. They would slay the king and seize 
the government, and deal with the general in 
the field afterwards. Only the promptness and 
rapidity of Esarhaddon's movements defeated 
their plans and compelled them to seek their 
own safety in flight. An inscription found at 
Konyunjik, though lacking some of the most 
interesting details because of its fractured con- 



ESARHADDON. 



383 



My liver 



dition, speaks of the movements of Esarhaddon 
upon hearing of the death of his father. Fol- 
lowing a broken line we read : 

"From my heart I made a vow. 
was inflamed with rage. 
Immediately I wrote letters 
(saying) that I assumed 
the sovereignty of my 
father's house. Then to 
Ashur, the Moon, the Sun, 
Bel, Nebo, Nergal, Ishtar 
of Nineveh, and Ishtar of 
Arbela I lifted up my 
hands. They accepted my 
prayer. In their gracious 
favor, an encouraging ora- 
cle they sent to me : ' Go ! 
fear not ! We march at 
thy side ! We aid thy ex- 
pedition !' For one or two 
days I did not stir from 
my position ; I did not move 
the front of my army, and 
I did not move my rear ; the tethering ropes of 
my horses, trained to the double yoke, I did not 
remove. I did not strike my camp. But I 
made haste to provide the needful for the expe- 
dition. A great snow storm in the month of 




NEBO. 



384 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

January darkened the sky, but I did not recede. 
Then, as a slrin bird spreads its wings, so I dis- 
played my standards, as a signal to my allies ; 
and with much toil, and in haste, I took the 
road to Nineveh. But, getting before my troops 
in the hill country of the Khani-Rabbi, all their 
warriors powerful attacked the front of my army 
and discharged their arrows. But the terror of 
the great gods, my lords, overwhelmed them. 
When they saw the valor of my great army 
they retreated backwards. Iyhtar, queen of war 
and battles, who loves my piety, stood by my 
side. She broke their bows. Their line of bat- 
tle, in her rage, she destroyed. To their army 
she spoke thus: 'An unsparing deity am I.' 
By her high command (or favor) I planted my 
standards where I had intended" — at Nineveh. 
The column is too broken for us to follow the 
history until the king appears righting against an 
insurgent king of lower Chaldaea. 

In the fourth column there is the relation of 
the conquest of Batzu, an Arabian country. 
Among the eight sovereigns put to death were 
"Yapaa, queen of Dihutani," and " Bailu, queen 
of Ikhilu." The custom of being ruled by 
queens was frequent in Arabia, and seems to 
have been confined to Arabia. This is a striking 
illustration of history, in that it explains how 



ESARHADDON. 385 

the queen of Sheba or of the Sabeans of Arabia 
visited Solomon in such royal magnificence. 

In later times we read in Ezra: "Now when 
the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard 
that the children of the captivity buildecl the 
temple unto the Lord Grod of Israel ; then they 
came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, 
and said unto them, Let us build with you ; for 
we seek your God, as ye do ; and we do sacri- 
fice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon, 
king of Assur, which brought us up hither." 
(Ezra iv, 1, 2.) 

In his conquest of Sidon, Esarhaddon says: 
" (The city of Sidon) I built anew, and I called 
it 'the City of Esarhaddon.' Men captured by 
my arms, natives of the lands and seas of the 
East, within it I placed to dwell, and I set my 
own officers in authority over them." This 
shows the method of Assyrian conquests, and 
the method adopted in the peopling of Samaria. 
In the third column we read of a king — proba- 
bly Hazael, though his name is not preserved 
in the inscription — rendering his submission : 

" With great presents to Nineveh, my royal 
city, he came and kissed my feet; then, hold- 
ing forth his gods, he addressed me with sup- 
plications; I had pity on him; those gods, I 
repaired their injuries, the emblem of Ashur, my 

33 



386 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

lord, and the writing of my own name I caused 
to be written upon them, and I restored them to 
him again. Tabua, a young woman brought up 
in my palace, I appointed to be their queen, and 
with her gods to her land I restored her. Sixty- 
five camels, beyond the tribute which he paid to 
my late father, I augmented it and imposed it 
upon him. After the death of Hazael, Yahilu, 
his son, I seated upon his throne; ten mana of 
gold, one thousand precious stones, fifty camels, 
a thousand ( . . . ), beyond what his father 
paid, I imposed upon him." Such was the 
method of conquest, tribute, and colonization. 

Again the Lord brought upon Manasseh " the 
captains of the hosts of the king of Assyria, 
which took Manasseh among the thorns, and 
bound him with fetters, and carried him to Bab- 
ylon." (2 Chronicles xxxiii, 11.) Esarhaddon 
writes : " I assembled the kings of Syria, and of 
the nations beyond the sea; Baal, king of Tyre; 
Manasseh, king of Judah; Kadumukh, king of 
Edom ; Mitzuri, king of Moab ; Reuben, (?) king 
of Gaza ; Mitinti, king of Ascalon ; Ituzu, king 
Amgarrum; Milki- Asaph, king of Gubal; Kulu- 
Baal, king of Arvad ; Abi-Baal, king of Ussimi- 
runa; Buduel, king of Beth-Ammon; Ussur- 
Milki, king of Ashdod; the twelve kings of the 
sea-coast." These with the ten kings of Cyprus — 



ESARHADVOK 



387 



"altogether, twenty-two kings of Syria and the 
sea-coast, and the islands, all of them, and I 




FACE OF BAAL AT BAALBEC. 



passed them in review before me." In another 
inscription we learn their fate: "I assembled 



388 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

twenty-two kings of Syria and of the sea-coast 
and the islands, all of them, and I passed them 
in review. Great beams and rafters of abimi- 
wood, cedar, and cypress, from the mountains of 
Sirar and Lebanon; divine images, bas-reliefs, 
stone ilu, slabs of granite, and alabaster, and of 
various other stones, . . . from the moun- 
tain quarries, the place of their origin, for the 
adornment of my palace, with labor and diffi- 
culty, unto Nineveh they brought along with 
them." 

Hezekiah was led away " among the thorns." 
Either like Necho he suffered a " binding of the 
hands and feet with iron bands and chains when 
he was carried captive to Nineveh about this 
time," as shown in an inscription of Assurbani- 
pal, or as represented in Assyrian art, he was 
led away with hooks or rings through his nos- 
trils or lips. Esarh addon had a palace at Baby- 
lon, and frequently held his court in that city. 

The severe treatment of the captives made 
by Esarhaddon is shown in his own record : 
"I caused crowds of them to work in fetters 
in making bricks. That small palace I pulled 
down, the whole of it. Much earth in baskets 
from the fields I brought away and threw it 
upon that spot, and with stones of great size 
I completed the mound." A full account is 



ESARHADDON. 389 

given of the building of " great palaces " in the 
royal city. 

The sculptured slabs in the British Museum 
represent men leashed to cables to which great 
loads were attached, and urged on by drivers 
who used clubs to compel them to the exertion of 
their utmost strength in this enforced service. 
(Talbot, Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 
101-124.) 



XXXT 



>{$ J)laafrt| Wxty* 



391 



XXXI. 



ASSUR-NASIR-PAL (B. C. 883-858), one 
of the greatest of the early Assyrian kings, 
boasts concerning a people whom he had con- 
quered : " The rebellious nobles who had revolted 
against me and 
whose skins I had 
stripped off, I made 
into a trophy; some 
in the middle of 
the pile, I left to 
decay ; some on 
the top of the pile 
on stakes I im- 
paled ; some by the 
side of the pile I 
placed in order on 
stakes; many 
within view of my 
land I flayed ; their assur-nasir-pal. 

skins on the walls I arranged ; of the officers of 
the king's officer, rebels, the limbs I cut off; I 
brought Ahiyababa to Nineveh, I flayed him and 

393 




394 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



fastened his skin to the walL" (Rev. J. M. Rod- 
well, Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 47, 48.) 
Again of another war he records : " Three 
thousand of their captives I consigned to the 
flames ; as hostages I left not one of them alive ; 
Hulai, the governor of their town, I captured by 
(my) hand alive ; their corpses into piles I built; 
their boys and maidens I dishonored ; Hulai, the 
governor of their city, I flayed, his skin on the 




CAPTIVES LED WITH HOOKS IN THEIR LIPS. 

walls of Damdamusa I placed in contempt ; . . . 
two hundred of their captives in the flame I 
burned ; . . . many soldiers I captured alive, 
of some I chopped off the hands and feet, of 
others the noses and ears I cut off; of many 
soldiers I destroyed the eyes ; one pile of bodies, 
while yet alive, and one of heads I reared up 
on the heights within their town ; their heads in 
the midst I hoisted ; their boys and their maid- 
ens I dishonored ; the city I overthrew, razed, 



THE BLOODY CITY. 395 

and burned with fire." (Rodwell, Records of 
the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 49-51, cf. 2 Kings xxv, 
7 ; x, 8 ; Judges xvi, 21 ; Numbers xvi, 14 ; 
Joshua xi, 14.) There are many similar records 
in the annals of this great king. (Rodwell, Rec- 
ords of the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 42, 45, 47, 52, 
54, 56, 57, 61, 62, 67, 68, 76.) In several in- 
stances it is said that the captives were "cruci- 
fied" while yet alive. (Rodwell, Records of the 
Past, Vol. Ill, pp. 42, 76.) Sometimes the 
bodies were impaled after death. No wonder 
that the enemies of the great king preferred to 
throw themselves into the Euphrates rather than 
to fall into his hands. (Rodwell, Records of the 
Past, Vol. Ill, p. 66.) Some authorities place 
the mission of Jonah within the reign of this 
king, though the date is probably some time 
later. 

ShalmanesQr, his son, exhibited the same 
military ability and the same savage cruelty. 
He made pyramids of the heads of the slain and 
burned "the sons and the daughters of their nobles 
for holocausts." (Sayce, Records of the Past, 
Vol. Ill, pp. 85, 86, 87, 88, 95; V, 38.) Esar- 
haddon conquers with similar terrors. (Talbot, 
Records of the Past, Vol. Ill, pp. Ill, 112.) 
His prisoners in front of "the great entrance 
gate of Nineveh," along with bears and dogs, he 



396 



WITNESSES FROM THE BUST. 



left "to stay forever." (Talbot, Records of the 
Past, Vol. Ill, p. 113.) 

Assurbanipal beheaded Teumman, king of 
Elam, and hung his head about the neck of Du- 
nanu. Afterwards he burned Dunanu in a fur- 
nace. He cut off the limbs of some captives, and 
caused others to be crushed "in front of the 
great gate in the midst of Nineveh." He pulled 
out the tongues of them who cursed against the 
gods of Assyria, and flayed them alive. He 
l^7j5|/C?Nk /7P&I yoked prisoners to his chariot, 
xAl (vW /Mmi or bound them hand and foot 
among dogs. He compelled 
them to build the brick work 
of temples " with dancing and 
music, . . . with joy and 
shouting." (Smith, Records of 
the Past, Vol. IX, p. 56 ; Vol. I, p. 92 ; Vol. IX, 
p. 57; Vol. I, pp. 104, 95, 99, 106.) Senna- 
cherib slew the nobles of Ekron, and hung 
their bodies on stakes " all around the city." 
He beheaded the soldiers of Elam, salted the 
heads and stuffed them in "great w r icker bas- 
kets." (Talbot, Records of the Past, Vol. I, 
pp. 40, 51, 52.) Sargon flayed Jaubid, king 
of Hamath, Bagadatti of Mount Mildis, and 
others w 7 ho fell in his power. (Oppert, Rec- 
ords of the Past, Vol. IX, pp. 6, 7, 8.) 







IMPALEMENT. 



THE BLOODY CITY. 397 

Probably a reward was given for the heads 
of enemies. Sometimes scribes are represented 
on the monuments as tak- 
ing an account of the heads. 
There are also representa- 
tions on the monuments 
of the bodies of enemies 
impaled around a captured 
city, prisoners led before 
the conqueror by a 
rope fastened to a ring 
which passes through 
the under lip, and cap- 
tives fettered, Urged Tramplmg on ihe Conquered Foe. 

on like cattle with blows, and sometimes in the 
act of being flayed alive. 

In Persia, during the war of the Shah -in- Shah 
against the fierce Turkoman races, the heads of 
the slain were cut off, salted, packed in cases, 
and sent to the minister of war — and this as late 
as 1861. (Brugsch, Egypt Under the Pharaohs, 
Vol I, p. 471.) 




XXXII. 



u 



Mr 



399 



XXXII. 



" T S not this great Babylon, that I have built 
X for the house of the kingdom, by the might 
of my power, and for the honor of my maj- 
esty ?" (Daniel iv, 30.) Nebuchadnezzar was 
one of the greatest builders of antiquity. An 
inscription which immortalizes his works will 
prove that this is not an empty boast. I have 
transposed some of the words to make it nearer 
English. 

"Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, glorious 
prince, worshiper of Marduk, adorer of the lofty 
one, glorifier of Nabu, the exalted, the pos- 
sessor of intelligence, who hath increased the 
processions of their divinities, a worshiper of 
their lordships, firm, not to be destroyed; who 
hath set apart appointed days for the establish- 
ment of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida, and hath 
steadily increased the shrines of Babylon and of 
Borsippa; exalted chief, lord of peace, embel- 
lisher of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida, the valiant 
son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon am I." 
This self-introduction, in which modesty is 

34 401 



402 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



surely not a characteristic, is in keeping with 
the whole text: 

"Under the inspection of Assur, my judge, I 




enlarged the processions of the god, of Mero- 
dach, great Lord, the god of my maker. His 
skillful works I have highly glorified ; and I 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 403 

/irmly established the possessions of Nebo, his 
eldest son, exalter of my royalty, (in honor of) 
his exalted duty. I uprose in reverence for 
Nebo, their Lord, with all my heart firmly (in) 
worship of their deities. 

" Whereas Merodach, great Lord, the head 
of my ancient royalty, hath empowered me over 
multitudes of men, and (whereas) Nebo, be- 
stower of thrones in heaven and earth, for the 
sustentation of men, hath caused my hand to 
hold a scepter of righteousness ; now I, as a 
worshiper of Nebo, Yav, and Istar, strengthened 
that sacred way for the resting-place of their 
divinities, for a memorial of all their names, for 
Merodach, my Lord. I firmly laid its threshold, 
and he accepted the devotion of my heart; and 
I did proclaim him . . . Lord of all beings, 
and as prince of the lofty house, and thou 
(0 Nebuchadnezzar) hast proclaimed the name 
of him who has been beneficent unto thee. His 
name (0 God) thou wilt preserve ; thou hast 
prescribed to him the path of righteousness. I, a 
prince, and thy worshiper, am the work of thy 
hand ; thou hast created me, and thou hast 
assigned me the empire over multitudes of men, 
according to thy favor, Lord, which thou hast 
accorded to them all. May thy lofty Lordship 
be exalted ! in the worship of thy divinity may 



404 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

it subsist ! in my heart may it continue, and my 
life which is devoted to thee, mayst thou bless ! 

"lie, the chief, the honorable, the prince of 
the gods, the great Merodach, my gracious Lord, 
heard and received my prayer ; he favored me, 
and by his exalted power he placed in my heart 
reverence for his deity ; he hath made my heart 
firm to bear his tabernacle, with reverence 
for thy power, for exalted service, greatly and 
eternally. 

" I extended the foundation of his temple which 
was from the upper waters to the lower waters, 
in a remote way, in a spot exposed to winds, a 
place whose pavements had been broken, low, 
dried up, a rugged way, a difficult path. I 
stirred up the disobedient, and. I collected the 
poor and gave full directions (for the work), 
and supported them in numbers. I brought 
forth wares and ornaments for the women — sil- 
ver, molten gold, precious stones, metal, umrit- 
gana and cedar woods (however their names be 
written), a splendid abundance, the produce of 
mountains, sea clay, beautiful things in abun- 
dance, riches and sources of joy for my city 
Babylon, into his presence have I brought for 
Bit-Saggatu, the temple of his power, ornaments 
for Dakan. Bit-Kua, the shrine of Merodach, 
Lord of the house of the gods, I have made con- 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 405 

spicuous with fine linen, and its seats with splen- 
did gold, as for royalty and deity, with lapis 
lazuli and alabaster blocks, I carefully covered 
them over ; a gate of passage, the gate Beau- 
tiful, and the gate of Bit-Zida and Bit-Saggatu, 
I caused to be made brilliant as the sun. A 
fullness of the treasures of countries I accumu- 
lated ; around the city it was placed as an orna- 
ment, when at the festival of Lilmuku at the be- 
ginning of the year, on the eighth day (and) 
eleventh day, the divine prince, deity of heaven 
and earth, the Lord god, they raised within it. 
(The statue) of the god El, the beauty of the 
sphere, reverently they bring ; treasure have 
they displayed before it, a monument to lasting 
days, a monument of my life. 

" They also placed within it his altar, an altar 
of royalty ; an altar of lordship, (for) the chief 
of .the gods, the Prince Merodach, whose fashion 
the former prince had fashioned in silver, with 
bright gold accurately weighed out I overlaid. 
Beautiful things for the temple of Bit-Saggatu 
seen at its very summit, the shrine of Merodach. 
with statues and marbles I embellished as the 
stars of heaven. The fanes of Babylon I built, I 
adorned. I reared the summit of the house, the 
foundation of the heaven and earth with blocks of 
noble lapis lazuli ; my heart uplifted me to the con- 



406 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

struction of Bit-Saggatu ; in abundance I wrought 
the best of my pine trees which from Lebanon, to- 
gether with tall Babil-w oo& 9 I brought for the 
portico of the temple of Merodach ; I made good 
the shrine of his lordship and interior walls with 
pine and tall cedar woods ; I caused to cover 
the portico of the temple of Merodach with 
brilliant gold ; the lower thresholds, the cedar 
awnings, I embellished with gold and precious 
stones ; I proceeded in the erection of Bit-Sag- 
gatu; I supplicated the king of gods, the Lord 
of Lords ; I raised Bit-Zida in Borsippa, the city of 
his loftiness ; I caused to be made a durable house 
in the midst thereof. I completed those thresh- 
olds with silver, gold, precious stones, bronze, 
ummakana and pine woods ; I caused to cover the 
pine wood portico of the shrine of Nebo with 
gold, caused to overlay the pine wood portico of 
the gate of the temple of Merodach with bright 
silver. The bulls and columns of the gate of 
the shrine, the thresholds, the sigari of n-wood, 
conduits of BabnaJca wood and their statues, with 
cedar wood awnings of lofty building, and sil- 
ver, I adorned. The avenues of the shrine and 
the approach to the house, of conspicuous brick, 
sanctuaries in its midst, with perforated silver 
work ; bulls, columns, doorways, in marble beau- 
tifully I built ; I erected a shrine and with rows 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 407 

of wreathed work I filled it ; I made and embel- 
lished the fanes of Borsippa ; the temple of the 
seven spheres . . . with bricks of noble 
lapis lazuli I reared its summit ; the tabernacle 
of Nahr-kanul, the chariot of his greatness, the 
tabernacle, the shrine Lilmuku, the festival of 
Babylon, his pageant of dignity within it, I 
caused to decorate with beryls and stones. 

"I erected like a mountain, with cement and 
brick, a temple for sacrifices, the lofty citadel of 
Bel and Merodach, god of gods, a threshold of 
joy and supremacy among angels and spirits, 
with the stores of Babylon. 

"I made in Babylon a great temple of Nin- 
harissi, in the center of Babylon, to the great 
goddess, the mother who made me. To Nebo of 
lofty intelligence, who hath bestowed (on me) the 
scepter of justice to preside over all people, a 
temple of rule over men, and a site for this his 
temple in Babylon, of cement and brick, the 
fashion I fashioned. I made in Babylon to the 
Moon-god, the strengthener of my hands, a large 
house of alabaster as his temple. Skillfully did 
I make in Babylon, of cement and brick, to the 
sun, the judge supreme who perfects good in 
my body, a house for that guide of men, even 
his house. 

"I built in Babylon to the god Yav, estab- 



408 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

lisher of fertility in my land Bit-Numkan, as his 
temple. Strongly did I build in cement and 
brick, as fanes in Babylon, Bit-Samit, and Bit- 
haris the lofty, to the goddess Gula, the regu- 
lator and benefactress of my life. I skillfully 
constructed in front of her house, so as to 
strengthen the wall of Babylon, Bit-Kiku, to the 
divine lady of Bit-Anna, my gracious mistress. 
I made in Borsippa a temple to Ninip, the 
breaker of the sword of my foes ; and I erected 
in Borsippa to the Lady Gula, the beautifler of 
my person, her three temples, Bit-Gula, Bit-Tila, 
Bit-Ziba-Tila ; I strongly built (also) in Bor- 
sippa, to the god Yav, who confers the fertiliz- 
ing rain upon my land, his house ; beautifully I 
constructed on the mound near Bit-Ziba, to the 
Moon-god who upholds the fullness of my 
prosperity, Bit-ti-Anna as his temple. Imgur- 
Bel and Nimetti-Belkit, the great walls of Baby- 
lon ... I built, which Nabopolassar, king, 
king of Babylon, the father wh.o begat me, had 
commenced but not completed their beauty. 

"He dug its fosse and finished the mass 
in cement and brick of two high embank- 
ments ; he made an embankment for path- 
ways, he constructed buttresses of brick be- 
yond the Euphrates ; but did not complete ; 
the rest from ... the best of their lands 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 409 

I accumulated ; a place for sacrifice, as ornament, 
as far as Aibur-sabu, near Babylon, opposite the 
principal gate, with brick and durmina-turda 
stone, as a shrine of the great Lord, the god 
Merodach, I built as a house for processions. 
I, his eldest son, the chosen of his heart, Imgur- 
Bel and Nimetti-Bel, the great walls of Babylon, 
completed ; I built buttresses for the embank- 
ment of its fosse, and two long embankments 
with cement and brick, and joined them with 
the embankment my father made ; and to the 
city for a protection, I brought near an embank- 
ment of inclosure beyond the river, westward. 

" The wall of Babylon, I carried around Aibur- 
sabu in the vicinity of Babylon ; for a shrine of 
the great Lord, Merodach, the whole inclosure 
I filled (with buildings) with brick made of 
kamina-turda stone, and brick of stone cut out 
of mountains. Aibur-sabu from the high gate 
as far as Istar-Sakipat I made, for a shrine for 
his divinity I made good, and with what my 
father had made I joined, and built it ; and the 
access to Istar-Sakipat I made, which is Imgur- 
Bel and Nimetti-Bel, the great gates, the whole 
temple , of the gods, in completeness near to 
Babylon I brought down; I put together the 
materials of those great gates and I founded in 
cement and brick their foundations opposite to 

35 



410 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the waters, and of strong stones of zamat-hati 
bulls and images, I skillfully constructed the 
building of its interior; I arranged tall cedars 
for their porticoes, ikki wood, cedar wood, with 
coverings of copper, on domes and arches ; I 
overlaid work in bronze substantially on its 
gates, bulls of strong bronze and molten images 
for their thresholds, strongly. 

"I filled with wreathed work those large 
gates for the admiration of multitudes of men ; 
the abode of Imzu-Bel, the invincible castle of 
Babylon, which no previous king had effected, 
four thousand cubits complete, the walls of 'Baby- 
lon, whose banner is invincible, as a high for- 
tress by the ford of the rising sun, I carried 
round Babylon. I dug its fosse and I reared 
up its mass with cement and brick, and I built a 
tall tower at its side like a mountain. The great 
gates whose walls I constructed with ikki and 
pine woods and coverings of copper I overlaid 
them, to keep off enemies from the front of the 
wall of unconquered Babylon. 

" Great waters like the might of the sea I 
brought near in abundance, and their passing by 
was like the passing by of the great billows of 
the western ocean ; passages through them were 
none, but heaps of earth I heaped up, and em- 
bankments of brickwork I caused to be con- 



IS NOT THUS GREAT BABYLON? 411 

structed, I skillfully strengthened the fortresses, 
and I fitted the city of Babylon to be a treas- 
ure city. 

" I made anew the handsome pile, the fort of 
Borsippa ; I dug its fosse out and I reared up its 
mass in cement and brick. 

"Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, whom 
Merodach, the Sun, the great Lord, for the holy 
places of his city Babylon hath called, am I; 
and Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida, like the radiance 
of the Sun I restored ; the fanes of the great 
gods I completely brightened. 

" At former dates from the days of old to the 
days ... of Nabopolassar, king of Baby- 
lon, the exalted father who begat me, many a 
prince who preceded me whose name El had pro- 
claimed for royalty for the city, my city, the 
festivals of these gods, in the perfected places a 
princely temple, a large temple did they make, 
and erected it as their dwelling-place. Their 
spoils in the midst they accumulated, they 
heaped up, and their treasures for the festival. 
Lilmuku of the good Lord, Merodach, god of 
gods, they transferred into the midst of Babylon ; 
when at length Merodach, who made me for roy- 
alty, and the god Nebo, his mighty son, com- 
mitted his people to me as precious lives. 

" Highly have I exalted their cities; (but) 



412 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

above Babylon and Borsippa I have not added a 
city in the realm of Babylonia as a city of my 
lofty foundation. 

"A great temple, a house of admiration for 
men, a vast construction, a lofty pile, a palace 
of my royalty for the land of Babylon, in the 
midst of the city of Babylon, from Imgur-Bel to 
Libithigal, the ford of the Sun- rise, from the 
bank of the Euphrates as far as Aibur-sabu 
which Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, the father 
who begat me, made in brick and raised up in 
its midst, but whose foundation was damaged 
by waters and floods at Bit-Imli, near Babylon, 
and the gates of that palace were thrown down, 
of this the structure with brick work I repaired 
with its foundation and boundary wall, and a 
depth of water I collected ; then opposite the 
waters I laid its foundation, and with cement 
and brick I skillfully surrounded it; tall cedars 
for its porticoes I fitted ; ikki and cedar woods 
with layers of copper, on domes and arches and 
with bronze work ; I strongly overlaid its gates 
with silver, gold, precious stones, whatever they 
call them, in heaps ; I valiantly collected spoils ; 
as an adornment of the house were they ar- 
ranged, and were collected within it ; trophies, 
abundance, royal treasures, I accumulated and 
gathered together. 



414 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

"As to the moving of my royalty to any 
other city, there has not arisen a desire ; among 
any other people no royal palace have I built; 
the merchandise and treasures of my kingdom I 
did not deposit within the provinces of Babylon ; 
a pile for my residence to grace my royalty was 
not found ; therefore, with reverence for Mero- 
dach, my Lord, the exterior and interior in Baby- 
lon, as his treasure city, and for the elevation 
of the abode of my royalty, his shrine I neg- 
lected not ; its weak parts which were not com- 
pleted, its compartments that were not remem- 
bered, as a securely compacted edifice I dedicated 
and set up as a preparation for war by Imgur- 
Bel, the fortress of invincible Babylon, four 
hundred cubits in its completeness, a wall of 
Nimitti-Bel, an outwork of Babylon, for defense. 
Two lofty embankments, in cement and brick, 
I made a fortress like a mountain, and in their 
substructure I built a brickwork ; then in ce- 
ment and brick I skillfully built on its summit 
a large edifice for the residence of my royalty, 
and brought it down by the side of the temple; 
and in the exact middle, on the second . day, its 
foundation in a solid depth I made good, and its 
summit I carried round ; and, on the fifteenth 
day, its beauty I skillfully completed and ex- 
alted as an abode of royalty. 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 415 

" Tall pines, the produce of lofty mountains, 
thick asuhu wood, and surman wood in choice 
pillars for its covered porticoes I arranged. I 
brought forth ikki and musritkanna woods, cedar 
and surman wood, and "in heaps, with a surface 
of silver and gold, and with coverings of copper, 
on domes and arches, and with w T orks of metal, 
its gates I strongly overlaid, and completely with 
zamat-stoxiQ I finished off its top. A strong w 7 all 
in cement and brick like a mountain I carried 
round a wall, a brick fortress, a great fortress 
with loug blocks of stone, gatherings from great 
lands, I made, and like hills I upraised its head. 
That house for admiration I caused to build and 
for a banner to hosts of men; with carved work 
I fitted it; the strong power of reverence for 
the presence of royalty environs its walls ; the 
least thing not upright enters it not, that evil 
may not make head. I raised the walls of the 
fortress of Babylon, its defense in war, and the 
circuit of the city of Babylon, I have strength- 
ened skillfully. 

" I lifted my hand to Merodach, my lord : 
Merodach, the lord, chief of the gods, thou 
hast made me a surpassing prince, and hast in- 
trusted to me empire over multitudes of men, as 
precious lives ; thy power have I extended on 
high, over Babylon, thy city, before all mankind. 



416 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

No city of the land have I exalted as was ex- 
alted the reverence of thy deity ; I caused it to 
rest; and may thy power bring its treasures 
abundantly to my land. I, whether as king and 
embellisher, am the rejoicer of thy heart, or 
whether as high-priest appointed, embellishing 
all thy fortresses, for thy gloiy, exalted Me- 
rodach, a house have I made. May its great- 
ness advance ! May its fullness increase ! In 
its midst abundance may it acquire ! May its 
memorial be augmented ! May it receive within 
itself the abundant tribute of the kings of nations 
and of all peoples ! From the West to the East 
by the rising sun may I have no foeman! May 
they not be multiplied within, in the midst 
thereof, forever ! Over the dark races may he 
ride !" (Rodwell, Records of the Past, Vol. V, 
pp. 113-135.) 

No truer picture could be drawn of Nebu- 
chadnezzar than that found in the book of 
Daniel, and his boast recorded therein is justified 
by the facts of history. There is scarcely a city 
or temple in the whole country of Babylonia 
which he did not rebuild or repair. There are 
said to be at least a hundred sites in the imme- 
diate neighborhood of Babylon whose bricks in- 
scribed with his legend give proof of the creative 
energy of this great king. A king who had 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 417 

built the great wall of Babylon, containing, ac- 
cording to the measurements of Herodotus, more 
than five thousand and four hundred millions of 
feet of solid masonry; the celebrated "Hanging 
Gardens," justly considered one of the seven 
wonders of the ancient world ; the temple of 
Belus, which, when afterwards again fallen in 
ruins, employed ten thousand men of the army 
of Alexander for two months merely to clear 
away the rubbish; to say nothing of other palaces 
and temples, canals and quays, might be permit- 
ted to call the city "this great Babylon, that I 
have built." The life of Nebuchadnezzar was 
prolonged to eighty years, forty-four of which 
he reigned as king of Babylon, and made the 
empire one of the great powers of antiquity. 
All the beauty, wealth, magnificence, and glory 
of Babylon, which have given it so large a place 
in the history of the world, were due to the pre- 
eminent genius and gigantic works of this "king 
of kings." 

While there are abundant records of the 
building operations of Nebuchadnezzar, as yet we 
possess but a small fragment of his military ex- 
ploits. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both prophesied 
his campaign in Egypt. " The word that the 
Lord spake unto Jeremiah, the prophet, how 
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, should come 



418 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



and smite the land of Egypt." (Jeremiah xlvi, 
13.) " Therefore thus saith the Lord God : Be- 
hold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebu- 
chadnezzar, king of Babylon ; and he shall take 
her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her 
prey ; and it shall be the wages for his army." 
(Ezekiel xxix, 19.) Over-hasty criticism has 
denied the verity of this campaign. It is for- 




NEBUCHADNEZZAR IN HIS WAR CHARIOT. 

tunate that a fragment has preserved an allusion 
to this invasion of Egypt. It took place in the 
thirty-seventh year of his reign. Other refer- 
ences gathered from the Egyptian monuments 
show that the army of Nebuchadnezzar swept 
the north of Egypt as far south as Assonan, 
whence they were forced to retreat by the gen- 
eral Hor. Amasis, who dethroned and murdered 



IS NOT THIS GREAT BABYLON? 419 

the Pharaoh Hophra of the Bible (Apries), was 
then king of Egypt. (Jeremiah xliv, 30.) 

A curious memorial of the campaign of Neb- 
uchadnezzar against Tyre and Judah was dis- 
covered but little more than two years ago, 
about eight miles north of Beyrut, on the Nahr 
el-Kelb or Dog River. Along its gorge the an- 
cient high-road led from Damascus to the sea- 
coast. On the side of this old road, where it 
rounds a promontory on its southern bank, foreign 
conquerers have left their monuments. Here 
are recorded the deeds and names of Rameses 
II, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon. The monu- 
ments of other kings have been obliterated. 
Under a mass of luxuriant shrubs and ferns, on 
the northern side of the stream, on a still loftier 
cliff, is a long inscription of Nebuchadnezzar. 
It has suffered much from time, but is still 
partly decipherable. There is no history of the 
campaigns of the great king, but, perhaps, we 
have as valuable material, true as it is to what 
we know of the character of the royal conqueror, 
in the list of the wines of Lebanon, among which 
the wine of Helbon, near Damascus, was the 
most highly prized. — Ezekiel xxvii, 18. (Sayce, 
Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments, pp., 
164, 165.) 

On a black cameo, preserved in the British 



420 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Museum, is a likeness of Nebuchadnezzar, thought 
by German Assyriologists to be the Nebuchad- 
nezzar of the Bible, surrounded by a cuneiform 
inscription, which has been translated : " To Me- 
rodach, his master, Nebuchadnezzar, king of 
Babylon, for the preservation of his life (by the 
god), has caused this to be made." This may 
refer to his disease from which he was delivered. 



XXXIII. 



>{p ialirin f map* 



421 



XXXIII. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR, the king, made an 
image of gold, whose height was three- 
score cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits; 
he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province 
of Babylon." (Daniel iii, 1.) 

The proportions of this figure show that it 
could not have been a statue in human form. 
There is nothing like that in all Babylonian and 
Assyrian sculpture. The inscriptions reveal its 
true character. Assur-akh-bal erected a similar 
object in one of the cities which he had con- 
quered. In his annals he writes: 

"I established true religious worship and 
holy rites throughout the land of Tsuki. As 
far as the land of Karduniah I extended the true 
religion of my empire. The people of Chaldaea, 
who were contemners and revilers of my religion, 
I impaled and slew them. Over all the lands 
which border on the river Euphrates I imposed 
my laws. I made an image of my majesty, the 
laws and emblems of my true religion I wrote 
upon it, and in the city of Tsuki I fixed it up." 

423 



424 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Again, Sennacherib set up an image : " On a 
fortunate and lucky day, during the public wor- 
ship of the people, I piously dedicated the foun- 
dation stone, I surrounded it with large sarnat 
stones, I strengthened its subuk, I erected sculp- 
tured tablets containing my name (i. e. annals), 
which extended in length a hundred and sixty 
palms. Upon these I wrote . . ." 

Samas-Rimmon says : "An image of my mag- 
nified royalty I made. The laws of Assur, my 
lord, the decrees of my ascendency, and the full 
history of the deeds of my hand, which in the 
country of Nahri I wrought, upon it I wrote. 
Into the city of Tsibara, their fortified strong- 
hold in the country of the Girub-bunclai, I caused 
(it) to be brought." There are many instances 
of the Assyrian king setting up the image of his 
majesty. (Sayce, Records of the Past, Vol. I, 
pp. 17, 18; Rodwell, III, pp. 45, 48. 49, 51, 60, 
67 ; Sayce, 86, 89, 90, 93, 95, 96 ; Sayce, V, 
pp. 30, 32, 34, 36, 38 ; Oppert IX, p. 8 ; Pyiches, 
28.) Such was probably the image of Nebu- 
chadnezzar. The worship required was the wor- 
ship of the gods of Babylon. 

M. Oppert in his explorations discovered the 
plain of Dura. Describing the ruins in the 
neighborhood of Babylon, he says : 

" The group which touches nearest on the 



THE GOLDEN IMAGE. 425 

boundary of the city, southward, is that of 
Dura. After having followed the road of Di- 
waniyeh as far as the Nahr Eyiib (river of Job), 
near which is found a sanctuary dedicated to 
this saint, as the Mohammedans account him, 
and leaving on one side an Arab ruin called 
Maamery, you cross the long canal of Keriyet- 
Ali, go towards the plains south-eastward, cross 
the dry beds of old canals, and after a journey 
of eight kilometers come to an old water-course 
called Nahr-Dura (the river Dura), and at length 
you will reach a number of little mounds on the 
southeast, bearing the name of Tolid-Dura, or 
mounds of Dura. Then, having traveled from 
north to south, you come to where the river 
Dura discharges itself after a course of nearly 
a myriametre, or nine miles and a half." (Rule, 
Oriental Records, Monumental, pp, 229, 230.) 

The explanation of the passage in Daniel is 
complete when we use the key so fortunately 
furnished in the records of these buried em- 
pires. When Oriental lands shall have been 
fully explored, the Bible will be rendered lumi- 
nous from the unexpected, but welcome light. 

36 



XXXIV. 



"Hoping far iammttx/* 



427 



XXXIV. 

ISHTAR had been to Hades, and returned 
under the guidance of Namtar, the messen- 
ger of Allat, who said to her as she passed the 
seventh gate : 

"Since thou hast not paid a ransom for thy 
deliverance to her (i. e. Allat), so to her again 
turn back for Tamrauz, the husband of (thy) 
youth ; the glistening waters pour over (him), 
the drops (sprinkle upon him) ; in splendid 
clothing dress him, with a ring of crystal adorn 
(him). May Samkhat appease the grief (of 
Ishtar), and Kharimat give to her comfort. The 
precious eye-stones also she destroyed not, the 
wound of her brother (Tammuz) she heard, she 
smote (her breast), she, even Kharimat, gave 
her comfort ; the precious eye-stones, her amu- 
lets, she commanded not (saying) : my only 
brother, thou dost not lament for me. In the 
day that Tammuz adorned me with a ring of 
crystal, with a bracelet of emeralds, together 
with himself he adorned me, with himself he 
adorned me; may men mourners and women 

429 



430 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



mourners on a bier place (him), and assemble 
the wake." (Smith, The Chaldsean Account of 
Genesis, pp. 245, 246.) It is Ishtar weeping 
for the beautiful Sun-god Tammuz, killed by 
the frosts of Winter — and the devotees of Ish- 
tar in sympathy join in the " wake." M. Lenor- 
mant has shown how this explains the passage in 
Jeremiah xxii, 18, "which preserves a portion 
of the wailing cry uttered by the worshipers of 
Tammuz or Adonis when celebrating his un- 
timely death." The passage should be rendered : 
" Ah me, my brother, and ah me, my sister ! 
Ah me, Adonis, and ah me, his lady !" It may 
also illustrate Amos viii, 10, "as at the mourn- 
ing for the only son" — Tammuz. The Accadian 
word is Dumu-zi, Ci the only son." Zechariah 
has the same thought : " In that day shall there 
be a great mourning at Jerusalem, as the mourn- 
ing of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megid- 
don." (Zechariah xii, 11.) (Smith, The Chal- 
daean Account of Genesis, pp. 247, 248.) Hadad 
is the Syrian Sun-god, like the Assyrian Samas, 
the Shemesh of the Bible. The word is found 
as an element in the name Benhadad, and in 
other proper names. Rimmon is the Assyrian 
Air-god. The compound word Hadadrimmon 
represents a god identified by the prophet with 
Tammuz. The tablets give us still another ref- 



" WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ." 431 

erence to this god. Izdubar says to Ishtar : 
"As for Tammuz, the lover of (thy) youth, year 
after year thou hast wearied him with thy 
love." (Smith, The Chaldsean Account of Gene- 
sis, p. 229.) 

Rawlinson thus describes this worship : 
"Adonis, or Tammuz, which was probably his 
true name, was a god especially worshiped at 
Byblus. He seems to have represented nature 
in its alternate decline and revival, whence the 
myth spoke of his death and restoration to life ; 
the river of Byblus was regarded as annually 
reddened with his blood ; and once a year, at the 
time of the Summer solstice, the women of 
Phoenicia and Syria generally 'wept for Tam- 
muz.' Extravagant sorrow was followed after 
an interval by wild rejoicing in honor of his 
restoration to life ; and the excitement attendant 
on these alternations of joy and woe led on by 
almost necessary consequence, with a people of 
such a temperament as the Syrians to unbridled 
license and excess. The rites of Aphaca, where 
Adonis had his chief temple, were openly im- 
moral, and when they were finally put down, 
exhibited every species of abomination charac- 
teristic of the worst forms of heathenism." 
(Rawlinson, The Religions of the Ancient World, 
pp. 143, 144.) 



432 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

At the holy Byblus the women bewailing the 
loss of Tammuz, feigned to find his head in the 
sea or his infant form in a cradle of papyrus 
which had come from Egypt, where the Alexan- 
drian women had with many tears committed it 
to the waves. A Phoenician scarabseus repre- 
sents the ceremony. Here also we may find an 
explanation of the denunciation of the prophet 
pronounced against Egypt : " Woe to the land 
that sendeth ambassadors by the sea in vessels 
of bulrushes upon the waters." — Isaiah xviii, 2. 
(Conder, Heth and Moab, p. 77.) 

This worship in its various modifications and 
ramifications was widely extended, and its liter- 
ature has become quite voluminous. Well might 
the prophet be sad at the sight of these " greater 
abominations," when the worship of Israel had 
so degenerated, that even at "the gate of the 
Lord's house" these unholy rites could be per- 
formed. (Ezekiel viii, 13, 14.) 



XXXV. 



u 



>|$ ^mn $1 \xmmtm" 



37 



433 



XXXV. 

" \ ND Naaman said : Shall there not then, I 
JTx. pray thee, be given to thy servant two 
mules' burden of earth? for thy servant will 
henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacri- 
fice unto other gods, but unto the Lord. In 
this thing the Lord pardon thy servant — that 
when my master goeth into the 'house of Rim- 
mon to worship there, and he leaneth on my 
hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rim- 
mon : when I bow down myself in the house of 
Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this 
thing. And he said unto him : Go in peace." 
(2 Kings v, 17-19.) 

Naaman, who has been miraculously cured 
of the leprosy, determines that from henceforth 
he will worship no god save the God of the 
prophet; and in order to be able to worship the 
Lord on sacred soil — each god was thought to 
be the special god of his own land — he asks for 
two mules' burden of earth wherewith to erect 
an altar and cover the ground round about. But 
he anticipates a difficulty. His royal master, 

435 



436 



WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 



the king of Syria, as a loyal subject of Assyria, 
is bound both to give tribute and to worship the 
Assyrian god. To refuse either would be treason. 
Naaman, as an officer, high in position at his 
court, must go with him into the temple of the 
god Rimmon and bow himself before the image 
of the god when the king bows in worship. 
The question is : Can Naaman do this and thus 
retain his position at the court of the king and 
yet not compromise his fidelity as a servant of 
the Lord ; and if he do thus bow himself in the 
house of Rimmon, while he bows his heart only 
to the Lord, can this apparent act of worship, 
forced upon him by the necessity of his position, 
be forgiven ? The prophet's answer is, " Go in 
peace," that is, " Perform your duties as an offi- 
cer of the king of Syria, but worship the Lord." 

The eminent scholar Selden said that this 

passage contains the only known mention of 

v the god Rimmon, though the name appears in 

the compounds Tab-rimmon and Hadad-rimmon. 

(1 Kings xv, 18; Zachariah xii, 11.) 

The worship of Rimmon occupies a large 
place in the Assyrian religion. As early as B. C. 
1850 Shamas-Vul dedicated a temple to his sole 
honor at Asshur, the original Assyrian capital. 
Tiglath-Pileser I, repaired this temple as well 
as that erected to Rimmon and Anu. This an- 



" THE HOUSE OF RIMMON." 437 

cient king calls him "my guardian god." His 
name is prominent in many inscriptions, and 
enters as an element in many proper names. 
Several temples were dedicated to him, and fes- 
tivals were held in his honor. His emblem was 
the triple bolt. His name is variously read — 
Rimmon, Bin, Vul, Ao, Iva. 

He is the god of the atmosphere and the 
giver of rain, and as such is a beneficent deity — . 
" the careful and beneficent chief, the giver of 
abundance, the lord of fecundity." Since the 
canals were the great fertilizers of Babylonia, he 
is "the establisher of works of irrigation, the 
lord of canals." But since, as "the minister of 
heaven and earth," and "the lord of the air," 
he raises the storm and the tempest, the rain 
and the whirlwind, the thunder and the light- 
ning, the flood and the devastation, he is a god 
to be feared. He destroys crops, he scatters the 
harvest, he roots up trees, and famine and pes- 
tilence follow in his track. The serpent and the 
forked lightning become appropriate symbols. 
He is an enemy to the enemies of Assyria. He 
"causes the tempest to rage over hostile lands 
and wicked countries." His royal votaries speak 
of "rushing on an enemy like the whirlwind of 
Rimmon," and "sweeping a country as with the 
whirlwind of Rimmon." In curses he is in- 



438 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

voked : " May Rimmon with his flaming sword 
scatter pestilence over the land, and may he 
cause famine and scarcity to prevail throughout 
the country ;" " may he scatter the harvest and 
destroy the crops ; may he tear up the trees and 
beat down the corn." He is also called " the 
intelligent guide, the lord of knowledge, glory, 
and life." His wife Shala or Sala is sometimes 
associated with him. (Rawlinson, Ancient Mon- 
archies, Vol. I, pp. 129-131 ; Vol. II, pp. 18, 
19; Herodotus, Vol. I, pp. 493-496; Fra- 
denburgh, Methodist Quarterly Review, 1883, 

P- H7.) 

The visit of Naaman to Elisha was made in B. 

C. 894, and at that time Rimmon-Nirari was king 
of Assyria. For three hundred years from the 
days of Tiglath-Pileser I all Syria had been 
kept in terror by the Assyrians. Shalmaneser 
II had completed the conquest of Damascus, 
and at this time Syria was saved from political 
destruction only by paying a heavy tribute, and 
by the most abject expressions of loyalty to the 
gods and to the king of Assyria. What retribu- 
tion they might expect for any failure in meeting 
the requirements of the conqueror may be learned 
from an inscription of Samas-Rimmon, son of 
Shalmaneser II (B. C. 823-810) : 

"Kings of the country of Nahri (Mesopo- 



" THE HOUSE OF RIMMON:' 439 

tamia), all of them, by the will of Assur, Samas, 
(and) Rimmon, the gods, my defenders, a fixed 
tribute of horses trained (to) the yoke, for the 
future, over them I appointed. At that time, 
from the country of Tsilar (and) the land 
Edanni as far as the sea of the setting sun, like 
Rimmon, my storm over them I poured. Ex- 
ceeding fear into them I infused." (Records of 
the Past, Vol. I, p. 19.) 

Enough has been said to enable us to under- 
stand the presence of the house of Rimmon and 
the feeling of Naaman with respect to this 
worship after he had espoused the religion of 
the Lord. 



XXXVI. 



Ittmli 1 



441 



JKXXVI. 

GEZER was an ancient city of the Canaan- 
ites conquered by Joshua (Joshua xvi, 1), 
and given to the Levites of the family of Ko- 
hath. (Joshua xxi, 21.) The Canaanites seem 
to have dwelt in Gezer until the king of Egypt 
"went up and took Gezer, and burned it with 
fire, and slew the Canaanites that dwelt in the 
city, and gave it for a present to his daughter, 
Solomon's wife." Solomon rebuilt the city. 
(1 Kings ix, 16, 17.) It was situated on the 
borders of Ephraim and Benjamin, between Beth- 
horon and the sea. After the last captivity all 
knowledge of the place was lost. 

M. Clermont Ganneau, while reading the 
Arabic chronicle of Jerusalem, met with an 
account of a skirmish between the governor 
and a party of Bedouin robbers which took 
place in A. D. 1552, in a village known as 
Khulda, in which it was stated that the cries of 
the combatants could be heard as far as the hill 
of Gezer. With this clew he began his search, 
and was unsuccessful till an old woman directed 

443 



444 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

him to Tell-el-Gezer, the hill of Gezer, three 
miles from Khulda. Four years later he dis- 
covered a short epigraph deep cut in the rock in 
Hebrew and Greek letters, and marking the dis- 
tance it would be lawful fof a person to travel 
from the sacred city, u with its name written in 
the characters of both languages, and repeated 
twice." Thus the old city comes to light. 

"The Jews which were in Asia, when they 
saw him in the temple, stirred up all the 
people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men 
of Israel, help ; this is the man that teacheth 
all men everywhere against the people and the 
law, and this place ; and, further, brought Greeks 
also into the temple, and hath polluted this 
holy place. For they had seen before with him 
in the city Trophimus, an Ephesian, whom they 
supposed that Paul had brought into the temple." 
(Acts xxi, 27-29.) In 1871, when M. Ganneau 
was passing through the ruined doorway of an 
old deserted Mohammedan college, he saw on one 
stone low down on the wall Greek letters, and after 
some labor succeeded in uncovering an inscrip- 
tion, of which the following is a translation : "No 
stranger born may enter within the circuit of the 
barrier and inclosure that is around the sacred 
court. And whoever shall be caught there, upon 
himself be the blame of the death that will con- 



SMALL SCRAPS. 445 

sequently follow." Josephus says, that upon 
the entrance of the second court there was such 
an inscription, and he speaks of the temple built 
by Herod, from which this stone was taken for 
use in the building where it was happily discov- 
ered by M. Granneau. 



XXXVII. 



3j* jlirmtgs date xtF jSmtrarau 



447 



XXXVII. 

" \ ND the king of Assyria brought men from 
ii Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, 
and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and 
placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of 
the children of Israel ; and they possessed Sa- 
maria and dwelt in the cities thereof." (2 Kings 
xvii, 24.) 

"Howbeit every nation made gods of their 
own, and put them in the houses of the high 
places which the Samaritans had made, every 
nation in their cities wherein they dwelt. And 
the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and 
the men of Cuth made Nerval, and the men of 

O 7 

Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nib- 
haz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their 
children in fire to Adrammelech and Anam- 
melech, the gods of Sepharvaim." (2 Kings 
xvii, 29-31.) 

"Where are the gods of Hamath and of Ar- 
pad ? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, 
and Ivah?" (2 Kings xviii, 34.) 

When a city was captured by the Assyrians 

38 449 



450 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

the temples of the gods were entered, and the 
sacred vessels and images of the gods seized and 
carried off in triumph and dedicated as a sign of 
their helplessness before the irresistible might of 
the gods of Assyria, in the shrines of the national 
divinities of the kingdom empire. The gods of 
conquered nations were made prisoners and slaves. 
The inhabitants were transported far away 
from their fatherland and planted on foreign soil, 
that their spirits might be broken and that 
political combinations might not be formed to is- 
sue in dangerous discontent and in rebellion. The 
monuments are so full of testimonies to these 
customs that quotations are needless. The sculp- 
tures represent captives, men, women, and chil- 
dren, in sad processions driven away before the 
conqueror. Sometimes their hands are mana- 
cled, sometimes their feet are fettered, less 
frequently with rings in their lips and ropes 
attached thereto, they are brought into the 
presence of the king. He pardons some; places 
his foot on the neck of others in token of his 
absolute mastership. Some he orders to execu- 
tion, others to slavery. Those condemned to 
death are flayed alive, impaled on stakes, be- 
headed, beaten to death with clubs, thrown to 
wild beasts, or burned in furnaces. Those des- 
tined for transportation are urged on by blows 



THE STRANGE GODS OF SAMARIA. 451 

according to the necessities for speed, or con- 
ducted more leisurely according to the caprice or 
clemency of the captor. Such are the revela- 
tions which the monuments — their literature, in 
its marvelous discovery, has been called the 
first resurrection of the dead — discloses to the 
astonished gaze of the modern Assyriologist. 

Succoth-benoth means, in Hebrew, " tents of 
prostitution," and most expositors explain it 
as referring to the tents in which Babylonian 
women prostituted themselves in honor of My- 
litta, the Assyrian Venus. (Herodotus I, 199 ; 
Baruch VI, 43 ; Strabo XVI, i, 20.) Clay olives 
have been found at Khorsabad bearing inscrip- 
tions which prove the existence of the frightful 
custom to which Herodotus and other ancient 
authors bear witness. 

Succoth-benoth, however, seems to have been 
the image of some Babylonian divinity. Henry 
C. Rawlinson connects the name with Zir-banit, 
consort of Bel-Merodach, patron deity of Babylon. 
She is sometimes called "the queen of Baby- 
lon." " It might have been supposed, from the 
variant orthography as used in the Assyrian 
inscriptions, that it meant ' she who produces off- 
spring ;' but from a passage in the great inscrip- 
tion of Nebuchadnezzar, where the goddess is, as 
usual, associated with Merodach, it is evident 



452 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

that Zir must be a proper name, and that banit 
'genetrix,' is the mere feminine of banu, which 
is one of the standard epithets of Merodach. 
The name, as written in the passage referred to, 
is Zir Um-banitiya, or 4 Zir, the mother who bore 
me ;' and it is almost certain that in this title 
we must look for the original form of the Suc- 
coth Benoth of Scripture, the goddess wor- 
shiped by the Babylonian colonists in Samaria. 
Whether, however, Succoth is a Hamite term, 
equivalent to Zir, imported by the colonists into 
Samaria, or whether, as may be suspected, it is 
not rather a Semitic mistranslation of the name — 
Zirat, ' supreme,' being confounded with Zarat, 
6 tents' — is a point we may hardly venture to 
decide." (Rawlinson, Herodotus, Vol. I, p. 513.) 
Nergnl, the god of the Cuthseans, was one 
of the twelve great gods of Assyria, and was 
held in great reverence. He was the divine 
ancestor to whom, through three hundred and 
fifty generations, Sargon looked as his greatest 
predecessor on the throne of Assyria. He was 
the god of hunting and war, and was symbolized 
as a winged lion with a human head. He was 
called " the god of arms and bows, the great 
hero, king of fight, master of battles, champion 
of the gods, god of the chase." He was the 
patron god of Cutha, where he had a temple. 



THE STRANGE GODS OF SAMARIA. 453 

He had temples also at Tarbisi, near Khorsabad, 
and perhaps at Calah. Nerig, a contraction of 
Nergal, is the Mendaean name for the planet 
Mars to the present day. The numerical sym- 
bol of Nergal is twelve, but what mysterious 
and occult meaning may be concealed beneath 
this number no one can tell. (Rawlinson, An- 
cient Monarchies, Vol. II, pp. 23, 24 ; Herod- 
otus, Vol. I, pp. 514-516; Fradenburgh, Meth- 
odist Quarterly Review, 1883, p. 118.) 

Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, whose magic wand 
has caused so many ancient ruins to rise from 
their long sepulture, has discovered Sepharvaim. 
The ruins are called by the Arabs " Tell Abu 
Hubba," and are five hours south-west of Bag- 
dad, and cover a space of three miles in circum- 
ference. Mr. Rassam, in describing his work, 
says : " The result was, that after digging for 
four days the workmen came upon the top of 
some walls, which were found to belong to 
an extensive ancient building, in which we 
soon began to find inscribed objects and other 
relics. . . . We first of all discovered four 
rooms, and then we came upon a fifth. The 
first four rooms were paved in what I should 
call the Assyrian or Babylonian style — i. e., 
with bricks or stone — but the fifth was paved 
with asphalt, the discovery of which brought to 



454 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

my mind the saying of Solomon, that ' there is 
nothing new under the sun.' As this seemed to 
me a very singular discovery, I ordered the 
breaking up of the floor, and after we had dug 
about three feet into it we were rewarded by 
the discovery of an inscribed terra cotta colfer, 
with a lid over the mouth ; and, on taking 
off the cover, we found therein two terra cotta 
inscribed cylinders and a stone tablet minutely 
inscribed with a bas-relief on one side of it." 
One of these records begins : " To the Sun-god, 
the great lord, dwelling in Bit-Parra, which is 
within the city of Sippara." Here, then, is 
brought to light a city whose records go back 
to the days before the flood — the oldest city in 
the world, flourishing when Babylon was but a 
little village. Here, according to old traditions, 
Xisuthrus, the Chaldsean Noah, was commanded 
to bury certain books, " the history of the be- 
ginning, progress, and end of all things." There 
is represented on a small sculptured panel the 
worship of the Sun-god by the king of Babylon 
and attendant priests. "The god is represented 
as seated on a throne beneath a baldacchino or 
open canopy shrine. He has long beard and 
hair, like most conceptions of the Sun-god, and 
holds in his hand a ring, the emblem of revolv- 
ing time, and a short stick ; too small for a seep- 



THE STRANGE GODS OF SAMARIA. 455 

ter, we may, perhaps, see in this the fire-stick, 
which was closely connected with the Sun-god. 
Before him, on a small table altar, is a large 
disc, ornamented with four starlike limbs and 
four sets of wave-like rays. Above this is cut the 
inscription, 'the disc of the Sun-god and the 
rays (of his) eyes.' The scene here depicted is 
clearly indicative of the fact that the priests of 
Sippara were worshipers of the solar disc and 
solar rays, and their creed seems to bear a close 
resemblance to that of the disc worshipers of the 
eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, who, under Amen- 
ophis III, and his son Khunaten, for some time 
held their ground against the priests of Am- 
nion." Mr. Rassam says : " Soon after I had 
discovered this new city I had to come home ; 
but I left some workmen under trustworthy 
overseers to continue the explorations at that 
place ; and I have been informed since that they 
have uncovered some more rooms, in one of 
which they found a channel built with bricks, 
inside which were buried nearly ten thousand 
tablets, some whole and some broken." Thus, 
the " City of the Sun," the temple of the Sun- 
god, his altar, and a representation of his wor- 
ship, are before our eyes. This god is the Adram- 
melech of the Bible. The monuments reveal a 
second Sippara, probably represented by the 



456 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

ruins of Deyr near at hand. This latter city 
was dedicated to Anat or Anunit, the spouse 
of the Sun-god — the Anammelech of the Bi- 
ble. Adrammelech probably means " Fire-King." 
The last element in the name reminds us of the 
bloody Moloch. Anammelech is formed from 
Anat or Anunit, perhaps in playful, and yet con- 
temptuous alliteration, to resemble the name of 
the Sun-god. The dual form Sepharvaim finds 
its meaning in the two cities so strangely res- 
cued from their graves. The name may mean 
" the two cities of books." (Journal of the Trans- 
actions of the Victoria Institute, or Philosophical 
Society of Great Britain, Vol. XVI, pp. 159, 
160; Vol. XVII, pp. 221-253; The London 
Times, August 27, 1881.) 

The dates which have been brought to light 
in connection with Sippara place its foundation 
far back in the years of hoary antiquity. The 
ancient Accadian name was Zimbir, "the city 
of the Sun in the great plain." This plain was 
the Edin of the Accadians, the Tseru of the 
Semites, and the Dura of the Book of Daniel. 
This was the site of the terrestrial paradise and 
of the founding of the tower of Babel. The 
dual cities of Sippara — Sepharvaim is of the dual 
number — have both been unearthed. The tem- 
ple of the Sun-god was named E-Parra, "the 



THE STRANGE GODS OF SAMARIA. 457 

house of light," and bears a remarkable resem- 
blance to the temple of Solomon. There were 
two chambers, the outer, or "holy place," and 
the inner, or "holy of holies," as they would be 
named by the Jews. In the outer chamber was 
a very large altar of sacrifice ; in the inner 
chamber an image of the Sun-god, " dedicated by 
King Nabu-apla-iddin in gratitude for his aid in 
defeating the Sutu or Northern Elamite tribe." 
(These Sutu or Su are the Shoa of Ezekiel 
xxiii, 23.) This king granted certain lands to 
the temple, and arranged for the sacrifices. 
"The skin, the rump, shoulders, choice portions 
of the interior, and other portions were selected 
for the sacrifice, those mingled with wine, milk, 
honey, and fruits made the code of offerings in 
this temple." Adjacent to the temple were sev- 
eral chambers decorated in black and white. 
These were evidently part of the temple of Anat, 
symbolized by these colors as the evening and 
morning star. In an astronomical inscription, 
Venus at the rising sun is Anat of Agade, while 
Venus at the setting sun is Anat of Erech. The 
inscriptions found here and the Phoenician in- 
scriptions of Carthage and Marseilles will be of 
surpassing value for the criticism of Hebrew 
Levitical law. 

Nabonidus states that Sargon, king of Baby- 
39 



458 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

Ion, and Naram-Sin, his son, restored the temple 
of Agade, called E-Ulbar, "the house of the 
star." It now appears that this temple was in 
Sippara. Again, in an inscription of Nebuchad- 
nezzar I, B. C. 1140, king of Babylon, the god- 
dess is specially invoked as "lady of the city of 
Akkad." It would appear, then, that Sephar- 
vaim, Sippara, Agade, Akkad, and Abu Hubba 
are the same. Many great kings entered this 
city in triumph. Nebuchadnezzar II (B. C. 605) 
resided here, restored the temple, and added to 
the palace. Under Nabonidus the city was the 
center of military operations. We read in an 
inscription: "In the month Nisan, on the fifth 
day, the mother of the king, Nabonidus, was in 
the fortified camp on the Euphrates, above Sip- 
para, and she died there. The son of the king 
(Belshazzar) and his soldiers, three days in the 
ranks weeping made." In this camp the army 
gathered for the war against Elam. On the 
advance of Cyrus in B. C. 540, Akkad revolted, 
and Cyrus entered Sippara without fighting. 
Nabonidus and Belshazzar fled, the former to 
Borsippa, the latter to Babylon. It was the 
fourteenth day of Tammuz when Cyrus entered 
Sippara, and there halted while Ugbaru or Go- 
byras, governor of Kurdistan (Gutium) — he may 
have been "Darius, the Mede" — pushed on, 



THE STRANGE GODS OF SAMARIA. 459 

and on tie sixteenth of Tammuz entered Babylon 
without fighting, during the celebration of the most 
orgian feast of the marriage of Ishtar and Tam- 
muz. Cyrus entered Babylon three months after 
its capture, on the third of Marchesvan. Such are 
some of the facts of history which have yielded 
to the decipherment of Assyrian scholars. We 
have followed the notes of Boscawen presented 
to the Victoria Institute. (Transactions of the 
Victoria Institute, Vol. XVII, pp. 247-251.) 

While the latest discoveries from the monu- 
ments must revolutionize the ideas which we 
have derived from all hitherto accessible his- 
tory concerning Cyrus and the capture of Baby- 
lon, they are in entire harmony with the Bible. 
Profane history is compelled to give way, while 
the Word of God stands fast. 

The remains of Cutha, one of the great theo- 
logical centers of Babylon have been discovered 
in the mounds of Tel Ibraheem, about ten 
miles west of Babylon. The temple of Nergal 
and his consort Laz has been uncovered by Mr. 
Rassam in the larger of the two mounds. 

Human sacrifices were offered in this old 
city Cutha. The first poem of the Izdubar epic, 
which has attracted so much attention among 
Oriental scholars, celebrates the sacrifice of Bel, 
or "the sacrifice of righteousness." The Acca- 



460 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

dian title of the first month is "Month of the 
Altar of Righteousness." The Semitic custom 
of human sacrifice seems to have been bor- 
rowed from the Accadian. An ancient cuneiform 
text says : 

" The sin (?) may he extirpate ; and the off- 
spring who raises the head among mankind ; (his) 
offspring for his life he gave ; the head of the 
offspring for the head of the man he gave ; the 
front of the offspring for the front of the man 
he gave ; the breast of the offspring for the 
breast of the man he gave." A passage from 
an astrononomical work drawn up for the library 
of Sargon of Agane from Accadian originals, and 
dating in its new form from B. C. 2000 to 1700, 
may be here quoted : 

" When the Air-god (Rammanu) is fine, prosperity. 
On the high places the son is burnt." 

We think of the question of the prophet, 
"Shall I give my first-born for my transgres- 
sion; the fruit of my body for the sin of my 
soul?" (Micah vi, 7.) (Tomkins, Times of 
Abraham, pp. 24, 25.) 

We are only beginning to appreciate the 
minute accuracy of the Word of God. The his- 
tory of Hamath has received valuable contribu- 
tions from the monumental annals of Assyrian 
conquerors. Aya is also several times mentioned. 



THE STRANGE GODS OF SAMARIA. 461 

Concerning the gods Ashima, Nibhaz, and Tar- 
tak, there is at present little to be said. Per- 
haps Ashima is the Phoenician deity Eshmun 
found on the monuments. The rabbis assert 
that he was worshiped under the form of a 
hairless goat. They also conjecture that Nibhaz 
was worshiped under the form of a dog. and Tar- 
tak under the form of an ass. The spade may 
yet uncover records by which our knowledge of 
these strange gods will be greatly increased. 
Meantime we must wait and watch the work 
of the explorers. 



XXXVIII. 



Jnn\ |uab$ n ]f eailpn Jul 



463 



XXXVIII. 

" 1^?0R in him we live, and move, and have our 
X being; as certain also of your own poets 
have said, For we are also his offspring." (Acts 
xvii, 28.) This quotation of St. Paul is from 
Cleanthes, a Stoic philosopher, who was born at 
Assos, in the Troad, about B. C. 264. He at- 
tended the lectures of Zeno at Athens, where 
he dwelt in great poverty. He succeeded Zeno 
in his school, and King Antigonus and the phil- 
osopher Chrysippus became his disciples. His 
hymn to Jupiter, which Dr. Wheclon describes 
as "one of the most sublime, and absolutely 
the most Christianlike production of pagan an- 
tiquity," is preserved by Stobseus : 

a O thou who, under several names, art 
adored, but whose power is entire and infinite ; 
Jupiter, first of immortals, sovereign of na- 
ture, governor of all, and supreme legislator of 
all things, accept my suppliant prayer, for to 
man is given the right to invoke thee. Whatever 
lives and moves on this earth drew its being from 
thee; we are a faint similitude of thy divinity. 

46* 



466 WITNESSES FROM THE DUST. 

"I will address, then, my prayers to thee, 
and never will I cease to praise thy won- 
drous power. That universe suspended over our 
heads, and which seems to roll around the 
earth, obeys thee ; it moves along, and silently 
submits to thy mandate. The thunder, min- 
ister of thy laws, rests under thy invincible 
hands ; flaming, gifted with an immortal life, it 
strikes, and all nature is terrified. Thou directest 
the universal spirit which animates all things, 
and lives in all beings. 

"Such, almighty king, is thy unbounded 
sway ! In heaven, on earth, or in the floods 
below, there is naught performed or produced 
without thee, except the evil, which springs 
from the heart of the wicked. By thee confu- 
sion is changed into order ; by thee the warring 
elements are united. By a happy agreement thou 
so blendest good with evil as to produce a gen- 
eral and eternal harmony in all things. But 
man, wicked man, alone breaks this great har- 
mony of the world. Wretched being, who seeks 
after good, and perceives not the universal law 
which points out the way to render him at once 
good and happy ! He abandons the pursuit of 
virtue and justice, and roves where each passion 
moves him. Sordid wealth, fame, and sensual 
pleasures become, by turns, the object of his 






PAUL QUOTES A HEATHEN POET. 467 

pursuit. God, from whom all gifts descend, 
who sittest in thick darkness, thunder-ruling 
Lord, dispel this ignorance from the mind of man ; 
deign to enlighten his soul ; draw it to that eter- 
nal reason which serves as thy guide and sup- 
port in the government of the world, so that, 
honored with a portion of this light, we may, in 
our turn, be able to honor thee, by celebrating 
thy great works unceasingly in a hymn. This is 
the proper duty of man. For surely nothing 
can be more delightful to the inhabitants of the 
earth or the skies, than to celebrate that divine 
reason which presides over nature." (Cory, An- 
cient Fragments, pp. 191-193.) 

The same thought may have been derived 
from his own countryman, Aratus of Soli, in 
Cilicia, who lived in the third century be- 
fore Christ. 

Paul recognized the fact that truth always 
and everywhere is God-given and divine. This 
truth, wherever found, the Spirit wields as a 
sword to slay the demons of error. The Chris- 
tian, above all other men, should recognize truth, 
appropriate it, and use it for the glory of God. 






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